Les presento la noticia aparecida en las noticias de la Asociación del HMS Ajax, en inglés, ya será traducida, pero para que no se extravíe.
Buena lectura.
By 6.30pm members gathered in the Gascoigne Suit, firstly to raise a tot of rum to Fred Coates, Master at Arms at the time of the Canada visit who sadly crossed the bar 29th July 2021. Fred had donated a sum of money to cover this.
We then took our places at the tables whilst our Chairman Nigel Masters, welcomed us, particularly our guest of honour, Major General Enrique Dick, President of the Graf Spee Association in Argentina and his lovely wife Alejandra. He also mentioned that Inge & Rüdiger Nedden had hoped to make the reunion but ill health had precluded this. Inge is the daughter of Captain Langsdorff and we had met up in South America during the 2019 trip. Both are honorary members.
Copious bottles of wine were placed on the tables, curtesy of the late Don Birrell who had crossed the bar 16th August 2021. Son and daughter-in-law, Stuart and Lois Birrell were present and we all raised a glass in his memory. There then followed a sumptuous four course gala meal. In the background, projected onto a large screen, was a slide show covering many aspects of the Association.
The Chairman then took to the stage again to deliver his address. At the conclusion he called upon Dennis Talbot, one of our three surviving Cruiser veterans, to propose the Loyal Toast and we all stood to respond, “The King”; probably the first time any of us had said those words.
Malcolm Collis was then invited to introduce our guest speaker. He explained that in early 2018 whilst working on the South America trip for the 80th anniversary of the Battle of the River Plate, he had been put in touch with the President of the Graf Spee Association in Buenos Aires which led to many exchanges of emails and reordering of the visit to be in Buenos Aires for the commemorative service of the death of Captain Langsdorff. Major General Enrique Dick was a huge factor in making the trip such a success for which he was made an honorary member of our Association. Enrique then delivered his talk entitled “Ship Ahoy” about the forceable repatriation of the German prisoners, including his father, from Argentina, and a few from Uruguay, on board the merchant ship Highland Monarch after the war. HMS Ajax was the escort ship and Enrique spoke of the camaraderie that developed between the sailors on both sides. The theme of reconciliation had been loud and clear on our 2019 trip.
At the end, he and his wife Alejandra presented the Chairman with several gifts including a signed framed drawing of the Highland Monarch under escort by Ajax and a framed drawing of The Graf Spee. He also had a number of unframed copies.
Alan Phillips had once again organised the raffle which was then drawn with plenty of donated prices to keep us going – the final prize, for some reason, was a bonsai tree kit won by one lucky member, thanks to the ‘no putting back’ rule! Of the sum raised it had been agreed by the Committee that 50% of that raised would be donated to the Royal Navy & Royal Marine Charity in recognition of their generous support for past events.
The surplus prints gifted by Enrique were “auctioned off” which raised more much needed funds for the Association coffers.
Those not staying over began to drift off but many stayed until we were politely told to leave as it was gone midnight. The remaining die-hards adjourned to the other bar to grab final drinks before that too closed.
Those who were leaving on the Sunday were up and about for breakfast before saying their fond farewells. Others were staying on for extra days. The next time many of us will be meeting up will be on the May trip to the Normandy Beaches.
Everyone agreed it had a been a wonderful weekend and thanks must go to Mike & Kathy Cranswick for all their hard work for making it such a success – I suspect we won’t wait another forty years before returning.
Malcolm Collis
