40s and 50s Memories
movements nevertheless. One of my Captains
later became 2nd Sea Lord.
As a Captain I had a double-hatted appointment
(1991) to the naval base at Portland as Captain
of the Base and also the Chief Staff Officer
(Engineering) to the Flag Officer Sea Training
where all Royal Navy surface ships and many
NATO European ones and others underwent
their sea training. The Base was a small
support dockyard with a sizeable fuel depot,
in all employing about 600 civilian personnel,
but its imminent closure was announced a few
weeks before I left!
My Flag Officer later became the Chief of the
Defence Staff. My final appointment (1993)
was the Chief Staff Officer (Support) to the
Commander British Forces in Gibraltar. I was
the next most senior officer and, for much of
the time, I was also the Senior Naval Officer on
the Rock. This was a tri-service appointment
and I was responsible for all aspects of the
military which were not directly operational.
This includes all MOD buildings and land
(including Gibraltar Airport, the Royal Naval
Hospital, the MOD school, married and single
accommodation, water production, electrical
generation, ship repair and maintenance
support infrastructure as well as recreational
facilities) and the civilian and tri-service staff
required to support operations conducted on
and in the Rock. Much of the military work is
carried out within the Rock itself and there are
more kilometres of tunnelled road inside the
Rock than there are on the outside! My boss
did not get promoted and neither did I! I retired
in 1995.
On retirement I went into sailing again. My wife
Rosemary owned a 40ft yacht which we had
in Gibraltar and in the year after retirement we
sailed it to the Canaries, to the Caribbean, to
Bermuda and back to the UK via the Azores
- the standard yachtie North Atlantic Circuit. I
sold the yacht soon after return to the UK - too
spoilt and too cold!
I then helped in the local community in various
organisations. I was Secretary of the fund
raising committee which raised £360,000 for
major restoration work for our parish church
(not a bad amount of money from a parish of barely 1,000 persons!). I was also Secretary
of the village branch of the RNLI which raised
about £8,000 annually and was a Committee
member and Secretary of the Royal Fowey
Yacht Club for quite a number of years.
I am now deep into retirement and am the
Treasurer of our local bowling club and a (rather
poor) player who also helps the green keeper…
with nothing technical!
g.g.turk
King Alfred 1952
Geoff Turk entered King Alfred House at King's
and left in 1954.
Good at sports he played for the Ist XI at hockey,
and although good at most other sports, hockey
was his thing. He continued to play throughout
his life for the Epsom Hockey Club which he
had joined when he was 14. He played his last
game in 2010, two years before his early death
after a long illness in December 2012.
His friend Dennis Killingbeck, has written of
his interesting life:
Geoff did his National Service in the army after
which he was not sure of what he wanted to
do. He then took a course in jewellery design in
London. He was to become a brilliant designer
and craftsman.
For a long while he was a business partner with
Andrew Giiya, and the pair of them shook up
British jewellery design in the 1970's and '80's.
Geoff travelled the world with his designs and
later he set up his own business. He was also to
become a Master Craftsman. His contemporary
jewellery was purchased by royalty in this
country and abroad. He was keen to help and
encourage young jewellery designers. This
aspect of his work and his design skills led to
his becoming a Livery Man of the Goldsmith's
Company.
Up until two years ago, Geoff would travel
around London on his bike. He continued to
play hockey for the Epsom Hockey Club. Many
stories have been told and still are about Geoff
and his hockey. One such concerns a tour he
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