David White – The camaraderie of submariners

The camaraderie.  It’s, it’s infectious. I mean we’re going to see friends, um, next weekend down in Wiltshire. I first met him in the Escape Tank. I never served on a submarine with him but we had, got on so well in the Tank. I go to my Reunions, normally it’s the first, they’ve changed it now, it’s the first Wednesday in every month and I see guys that I might not have seen for 20, 30 years will suddenly turn up and I was on a boat with them and it’s great, you have a few beers and you chin-wag.

We have diesel submarine Reunions where only diesel Submariners go. There’s one in Plymouth and one in Gateshead every year. They’re great fun and, yeah, last time I went up to Gateshead I saw guys I hadn’t seen for 30, 40, 50 years.

I left Oracle in ’70, so I hadn’t seen them, so if that was three, four years ago, 48 years since I’d seen them, and it was, and even though they’re 48 years older they look to me, the same! My old Killick Chef, George Purcell, he looks, he’s huge, but he sounds the same. 

So yeah, the camaraderie is great and Submariners have something that our General Service counterparts don’t have and I do not say that in a disparaging way, it’s just life, it’s just fate.

We have to know more about our ship than they do. If they get bombed, they may have a few hours to get off while it sinks.

We don’t have that luxury. We can’t send for the Fire Brigade; I have to know how to put a fire out.

It’s as simple as that. What is it? It’s logistics.