News: WA website Bulletin 2010/04 Monday 8th February 2010

WA website Bulletin 2010/04 Monday 8th February 2010

"Reminders and Tips" are at the bottom of this bulletin. To use the links below, with this bulletin open login first, press the Ctrl key on your keyboard whilst you click the (last if more than one) link in this bulletin.

Special Reminder: We've all got used to and enjoyed receiving printed copies of All Hands journals. This is to remind you that if you prefer to download instead a copy from the website you can set an indicator to this effect in your website Profile. This will help reduce the cost of WA postage. Unless you decide to change the setting you will of course continue to receive printed copies. For guidance on changing the setting visit the sub-forum >> Member's Profile then load the Topic Profile - opt for online or printed All Hands. Anyone belonging to our Australian Branch choosing to rely on a downloaded copy only should also let Neil Martin know.

In the same sub-forum Member's Profile the Topic Profile - create/ edit your Member Profile explains how to maintain your own Profile e.g. address details (not seen by other members except website staff), past career information, hobbies, achievements.

Website changes: With a picture of website usage emerging I've started a review of how to improve it. Any helpful suggestions you have will be very welcome for consideration. You may at anytime suggest changes to the structure of the forums and galleries. As changes are made they will be highlighted in website bulletins.

What's new and what's coming on the website

SoN Archive photos 1960-62: Many new photos from Captain Wakeford's archives for this period are now available in the Gallery here >> Warsash courses > SoN Photo Archives > 1960-62. This was the period in which the new cadet accommodation block begun in 1959 was completed and opened. It contains many photos in which cadets can be recognised quite clearly, including SLC Mike England, CCC Tony Tanguy and possibly Peter Hoiles. Also a couple of those kind ladies from the catering staff whose names you may recall. In addition there are reminders of our primitive ablutions and the new cadet accommodation. What luxury you lot lived in post 1960! Please visit and see if you can identify any faces, occasions or places not yet named.

SoN Archive photos 1957-59: Seven photos belonging to this period taken on prize-giving day in December 1959 found in the 1960-62 album have been uploaded to the correct album. These include pictures of CCC Peter Reseigh, JCC Alan Knott, JLC Neil Martin and Cadet Andy Hurry (crossed the bar in 2009).

Shipping Company photos: In the gallery here >> Shipping Companies Bruce Pollard 1960 has uploaded 28 photos taken when with NZSC in places like Australia, NZ, Suez and London. It's a superb gallery Bruce, thank you very much. Makes me wonder why I took so few pictures whilst at sea - perhaps you lot had nothing else to do in NZSC ? Just kidding! I know the rest of you NZSC men e.g. Roger Roach, Dave Southworth, will be particularly interested. Julian Lillico 1957 has also uploaded 7 SSA pictures and one of the Royal Mail ship Picardy in these galleries.

New History Page: In the History section here >> 1939-1945 The War Years. This fascinating account appeared in the First Edition of All Hands dated April 1949 having been sent in by Michael Harry 1946 (currently a non-member). It was published in a much later edition of All Hands and included on our previous website by Alan Ewart-James. We have 21 current members from those momentous six years including Peter Eckford, Roy Kilby-Leonard, Lord Gainsford, Syd Lambrick, Denis Mason and Mike Howell. In addition there are 8 current members from 1946 who may have joined in 1945. It's a great story which I for one, coming from a later generation, have often wondered about. In due course we should have photos of these years from the SoN archives but please let me know if you have any relevant pictures in your possession.

Orphan photos: Your help is needed. Visit this sub-gallery here >> Orphans for unidentified pictures from the SoN Archive albums of Captain Wakeford. Curently it contains four photos. They are being uploaded here until they can be placed in their correct archive. Please visit and let us know if you can identify the year, event and/ or names.

Reminder - "Notice Board" Forum re-named and restructured: making it easier to use.

• The Notice Board forum has been re-named "Help" containing new sub-forums for each main section and other subjects e.g. Tracing others/ Database, Forum, Gallery, News etc.
• You can post any queries about using the website in the new sub-forum Help requests.
• You can see a picture of the new Help menu by clicking on this thumbnail image.

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» Download: forummenu.jpeg (267 Kb, 40 downloads so far)

• A new forum called Miscellaneous has been created to post any Topic for which there is no obvious sub-forum.

Drop-down menu minor change: The old "Using this website" link in the "About this website" menu was renamed "Help" and relocated to the bottom of the list.

New forum "Your cadet term": In the forum "Your cadet term" I can insert a new sub-forum for your year and term if requested. It will be a post-box where members from the same Warsash cadet term can chat with and hurl (friendly) abuse at their fellow ex-cadets! Initially 6 sub-forums covering 1958 and 1959 have been created. Email me at Chris Clarke if you want me to set up a sub-forum for your term. You may just want to reminisce, ask for news about others or chat about anything of interest to your term. So let's hear from you please!

Next SoN archive photo albums: John Downs will in due course be digitising two more albums. These are for 1950/54 and 1951/52. I shall let you know when they have been uploaded.

Humour: visit this sub-forum here >> Have you heard the one about…? for a couple of new humorous entries, one about a blind sailor in a girls-only bar and the other a Simpsons cartoon from Derek Sim 1959 reminiscent of old "oil and water" controversies!

Try your hand in the Forum. This is the place for you to pose and ask questions (whatever happened to old so and so; do you remember the time we . . . . !) and also try to track down previous colleagues. In addition there are pre-defined sub-Forums where you can raise and discuss a host of other issues for all to read and respond to. You can learn how to do this from a series of Topics written here >> Forum and then clicking on the "Help" link. You can see an excellent example here >> Warsash legends.

Details of WA Social Event 2010

This event includes one night's accommodation in a local Southampton hotel with dinner and a short cruise aboard P& O's cruise liner Arcadia over the weekend 15th to 18th July 2010. Details and a reservation form can be downloaded from the Events calendar here >> Cruise aboard P & O's cruise liner Arcadia. If you wish to attend please book well ahead for this short cruise to avoid disappointment.

All Hands Journal

All Hands Journal: If you have any articles for the Summer 2010 edition please email John Downs or Ron Caine.

Website usage

The number of unique visitors to the website in so far in February has averaged 58 per day compared with 59 in January. We now have 1,673 posts in the Forum and 986 photos in the Gallery.

Reminders and Tips

Your first actions after logging in: List all messages and photos which have appeared on the website since your last visit by using the function "View ……" in the top right corner of your screen. These are listed in reverse date order when you click on a) "View …. Posts since last visit" and b) "View . . . .. All photos last 4 weeks".

Failed logins: Members sometimes fail to login through using an incorrect Username. These have a standard format a) so they are easy to remember b) to differentiate between members with the same name c) for easy "year at Warsash" recognition. The single word format is always surname, first initial and last two digits of final year at Warsash e.g. ClarkeC59. Of course that didn't help one very honest member who a few days ago confessed he'd got the year he was at SoN wrong! (No names, no rifle drill!).

Lost your password? To generate your own new secure password via the website click "About this website/ Unable to login?" in the drop-down menu. This will email to you a link to change your email address and then another email to notify after the new password has been generated. Remember - passwords are case sensitive.

Step by step instructions are in a set of sub-forums. To reveal these click here >> Forum Home then place your cursor on the forum "Help". Feature-rich community websites can be daunting to newcomers. These instructions will help you follow the examples of several members who, after confessing computer illiteracy, have learned to post messages and photos. They are now regular contributors. (The next in a series of lessons about using the website will follow soon).

Kind regards,

Chris Clarke 1959