Gordon Sutcliffe with a shipmate at Portsmouth Naval Barracks

Gordon Sutcliffe with a shipmate at Portsmouth Naval Barracks

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This still photo shows Gordon Sutcliffe, on the left, with one of his shipmates, (unknown), probably outside their barracks in Portsmouth while they were doing their National Service .

Gordon’s National Service. This was introduced in the post war period In an effort to maintain Britain’s Great Power status and provide a reserve of troops who could be called up in any future major conflict. They were to be available for immediate deployment, notably in the decolonisation wars in Malaya, Kenya and Cyprus. Most young men aged over 18 were required to serve at least 18 months in one of the armed services followed by four years on the reserve list. In total over 2,301.000 young men were called up.

Gordon himself was required to serve from November 1946 and chose to join the Navy. He served on two ships the HMS Wakeful and HMS Ranpura, spending time at his base at Rosyth and patrolling the North Atlantic. He did his basic training at Portsmouth and was also discharged from there in May 1949. Gordon enjoyed his time in the Navy which left him with cherished memories..

c 1948-49:taken

Made available by: Dorothy Sutcliffe, Four Winds, Badger Lane, Blackshawhead, HX7 7JJ

Edited by: Edith Bowman

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English

scanned still image

omeka item id #:49

original file name: couple.jpg