FAR AWAY BUT CLOSE TO HOME - VETERANS STORIES 2

Chief: A Cheif Petty Officer

Petty: From the French for small, Petit. Here it isn’t a size thing.
A Petty Officer is a senior sailor with a lot of know how, but not with the rank of a full officer

Wasn't that a party?
Steve Jenner : Musquodoboit Harbour

The place we learnt about submarines was a boy's reform school at Blyth on the North East coast. It was a single storey building, very suitable for young officers with a lot of energy. There were probably fifty or sixty of us in training at the time, all between the ages of eighteen and twenty-one, and full of "piss and vinegar". A splendid collection of Chiefs and Petty officers were the instructors. The great thing about it was that sometimes submarines went on patrol from here. The shore base was duty free. It was a great party anyway, there were duty free goods, and there was horse racing nearby. We would take trips into Newcastle, we had a high old time, it was very fun.

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