Gambia was my first ship in 1960 as a 17-year-old JEM fresh from Collingwood the electrical training school. This was to be the ship's final decommission trip round the UK. It was a pretty exciting trip, especially for a 17-year-old. For a start 11 of us lived in a tiny, cramped space around A gun barbette. There wasn't even enough space to sling all our hammocks. Some slept on camp beds (made from a hammock) on the deck.

Gambia joined the Nato exercises that year in the Arctic. An American plane crashed landed and went overboard from its carrier in the middle of the night. One of several we heard. We were up all night searching for survivors, unlikely as it was freezing. The green seas and the searchlight's reflection from the fog remains a clear memory.

The most exciting time however was the exercises with the Fleet Airarm planes out of Lossiemouth up in the Moray Firth gunnery range. The ship had seven double barrel bofors and 4 X 4" radar controlled antiaircraft guns. The ship towed a splash target ¼ miles behind us. The planes fired live rounds at the target, and we fired blanks back at them. All the bofors and 4"ers were banging away noisily in flames and smoke. The 4" guns were very accurate as we demonstrated later by shredding a plane towed drone target. Great for a 17-year-old and everyone else, I guess. I suppose the exercise was just a way of using up old ammunition.

More ammunition was used up later when we fired the main armament, the three triple turret 6" guns. Small beer from those on battleships of earlier days but big enough all the same. We were closed down in battle stations. But some idiot thought he would have fun at my expense. I was sent up to the 'tiffies workshop on the upper deck on some silly pretence. This was fairly close to the rear turret. I recall standing on the upper deck watching the barrels going up and down. The door to the workshop was the usual watertight sort with a dozen locking levers. I recall opening them when boom and a red mist descended over my eyes. I came too in the workshop with the Chief 'tiffy demanding to know what I was doing on the upper deck.

I served another 10 years in the RN on ships of all sizes. I finished on the Belfast, alongside in Portsmouth. A similar ship to the one I started on. I am 83 now and must be one of a small band of people still going who remember HMS Gambia. I sometimes can't remember what I did yesterday, but those memories of Gambia are still vivid.

Browsing down your memories list under John Lloyd's name is an account of him being in 40 Commando and in the 1962 - 66 Borneo Campaign. I served on HMS Albion(Commando Carrier) that took 40 Commando to the first landing in Brunei in late 1962. This currently developed into a much wider conflict with Indonesian backed rebels and irregulars. Albion became known as 'The Grey Ghost of the Borneo Coast' during the next 18months or so as we deployed troops around Borneo.

As an aside. In 1959 I went to sea in the Merchant Navy. I trained as a steward on MV Vindicatrix, part of the National Sea Training School. A whole other line of social research here into Brittain's sea going past. In 1962 the Albion embarked 41 Commando and sailed for the Far East. One day on the mess deck I was collared by this hulking great marine. Crickey, (or similar) I thought what have I done? Turned out he was an old 'Vindi' boy who was in my class there. We subsequently embarked 40 Commando in Aden and 41 returned home on sister ship Bulwark.

You also mention the gun turret explosion on HMS Devonshire. My final sea going deployment was on the County Class type 42 HMS Devonshire. We also had our share of onboard explosions. One of the oil-fired boilers exploded. Not once but twice. Fortunately, no one was injured.