List,

On closer examination of the National Archives search result for RN Banister, I see that the first two are really the only ones when age is taken account of. I decided to go back and have a look at Denn's service record to see if Denn's boss had made any comments on him and therefore signed his name to the record - sure enough, I found this entry:



My estimate of the entry is:


Any words I am not sure of I have replaced them with [?] - Can anyone do better?

If I am reading the report author's title correctly as Lieutenant, then the first record on the National Archives RN search results seems to fit the bill - one Vivian Lionel Banister. I'll download this Officer's record later this evening - it's only the price of a lotto ticket anyway!

Talk later,

Pat
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Email: pat @ whitebeamimages.ie

List,

Oops, sorry it's the second guy on the RN list - Gerald Courtney Banister. I have uploaded his record here. Note the reference to:


Gerald Courtney Banister seems to have been an officer with exceptional abilities, serving in both World Wars and appears to have been highly thought of by all his C.O.s

It's interesting that his Lieutenant exam results, dated September 1912, are entered in his record and he also appears to have won a medal in the next exam he took in 1915 for Lieutenant(T) - can anyone make out the name of this medal (top of page 2) and/or the full entry in the 'Rewards and Distinctions' column?

While Denn's boss in Malta, he appears to have been acting as Maintenance Captain with an extra 3/- pay per day (see middle of page 2).

He was awarded the O.B.E. in 1938 and the C.B.E. in 1945. I found the London Gazette entry for the O.B.E. award here - the article begins on the bottom right of the previous page here.

Corrections and observations welcome.

Regards,

Pat
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Email: pat @ whitebeamimages.ie

Hello again Pat,

Well done with Lt. Banister’s record, you did win that ‘Lottery’ by finding his matching appointment at Malta!


As DENN was being discharged from Malta in July of 1917 I think you could read the wording of that entry (as his boss’s final ‘performance assessment’) as follows:

"...7.19 [SAT ] = ‘Satisfactory’ being an average grading of his efficiency, placed midway between ‘Moderate’ and ‘Superior or Very Good’.

In those days, the above average or ‘Superior’ grade of an efficiency assessment could well have been just ‘Very Good’.

I could not magnify them but some of the similar entries made above Banister’s 1919 remarks may be read as a (very curly) “VG All”.

(at a push it could also be read as the suffix CW = ‘Commission Worthy’, a well known code for those with officer-like qualities, or ‘Oily Qs’)

So ‘SAT’ leads me to conclude that he had dropped a grade from his previous ‘Very Good’ on account of Banister’s view of his health:


Here is my attempt at deciphering the other words:

“At times unreliable & lacking in keenness due to his health

not fit [AT PRESENT] for sea.

A [CAREFUL] storekeeping officer… Lt. Banister”


PS As a generalisation it is only within living memory that reporting on a rating’s performance has developed into a fairer and more objective assessment of every aspect of his performance and potential.

Even in the 1960’s/70’s an ‘average chap’ who kept out of the spotlight would leave a draft after two-plus years with only a bare sentence or two from his Divisional Officer recorded on his performance record, just like the old DENN days!

Bob

Pat -


The most recent reference I can find to the Ogilvy Medal appeared in the 1989 Navy List. The Navy List no longer has a section on Prizes, Testimonials, Etc.


Prior to this, the medal was awarded to the top officer qualifying on the Long TAS (Torpedo & Anti-Submarine Warfare) Course and, prior to this, the top officer qualifying on the Long Torpedo Course.
_________________
"The British Army should be a projectile to be fired by the Navy." Sir Edward Grey, British Foreign Secretary 1905-1916.

Bob & List,

Thanks for that. I am trying to make a guess at the relationship between the two men. While we have a lot of Denn's views in the Diary, it's good to see Denn through Banister's eyes also, even if it's only a one line assessment in Denn's record.

What strikes me when viewing all these records is how a man's career could turn on a pin so to speak depending on what his C.O. wrote in the rating's service record.

As a pure aside, I see Banister's father was a Lt. Colonel in the South Wales Borderers (see very top of page 3) - I found this reference to a G.S. Banister - do a find command for the word "banister" when the page opens - I wonder if this is our Banister's father? The South Wales Borderers appear to have been the regiment involved at the famous Rorkes Drift action - I'll do some more digging later.

Regards,

Pat
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Email: pat @ whitebeamimages.ie

Last edited by sea_mine on Sat Nov 21, 2009 9:33 pm; edited 2 times in total

Naval_Gazer,

Sorry I missed your post - I was crafting my reply to Bob's answer to my earlier post when you also replied. Thanks for the info on the Ogilvy Medal.

Regards,

Pat
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Email: pat @ whitebeamimages.ie

List,

Just found a reference to Lt. Banister's father, Lt. Colonel George Stanhope Banister in this online book (bottom of page 237). This is confirmation that Lt. Banister's father was involved in the Zulu Wars of 1877-1879 - to what extent, I have yet to ascertain.

Another, separate WWII reference to our (by then) Captain Banister, his daughter and son is shown in this online book. There are four hits all together in the search result for 'Banister', all referring to either or all three of them.

If you look at page 3, bottom left of Banister's service record, you can see where he was made Director of Boom Defence in November 1939, a direct tie to the latter reference above.

Regards,

Pat
_________________
Web: whitebeamimages.ie
Email: pat @ whitebeamimages.ie

List,

On one of Denn's many evening swims in the second half of June and through July 1919, he makes this reference to a wreck in the entry for Saturday, 19th July 1919:


The reference to the French wreck has me on the hunt again. I may have a candidate here. I cannot deduce from the article if the remains of the 'Polynésien' lie within Denn's swimming area.

Comments, suggestions anyone?

Thanks,

Pat
_________________
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Email: pat @ whitebeamimages.ie

List,

Denn departs Malta en route to Plymouth aboard HMS Valhalla (See Naval_Gazer's description of her here) at 12:30, Wednesday, 30th July 1919. The Wikipedia article on Valhalla's class is here.

Valhalla had been tasked with towing a motor light, K54, to Gibraltar. Due to his health, Denn appears to have been excused watch duties in lieu of keeping an eye on the tow.

There were two other passengers on the Valhalla; a Chief Mechanic and the manager of the Duke of Connaught's Home Florianna. There is a section on this web page relating to the Duke of Connaught in Malta. The three passengers appeared to have been well looked after - this from the entry of the first full day at sea, Thursday, 31st July 1919:


Denn appears to consider the trip a bit of a 'cruise' - further down the entry for the same day:


The course steered at the end of the day (Thursday, 2nd day out) is referred to by Denn as:


Would 8½ knots not be slow for a destroyer - is this because she was towing the motor light?

Thanks,

Pat
_________________
Web: whitebeamimages.ie
Email: pat @ whitebeamimages.ie

List,

First, apologies to all for not surfacing since before Christmas, but my Dad became ill with cancer around that time and passed away on the 10th of this month.

I nearly had Denn home in any case in my last post so there is not a whole lot more to be gleamed from the pages of the Diary. One passage from the entry for Saturday, 2nd August 1919 has me a bit perplexed though:


I am wondering what the protocol would be for a 'passenger' like Denn on board a Royal Navy ship - could he just pick and choose duties like that?

By Monday, 4th August, Valhalla arrives in Gibraltar, hands over the towed lighter to a tug and secured to No. 2 buoy by 23:00. The following day, Tuesday, 5th August, Valhalla is coaled by 'Rock Scorpions' (local Spanish dock workers) and Denn stays on board for the whole day due to the heat.

That evening he makes reference to a ship:


I am getting hundreds of links when I search on her name - all nothing to do with a ship by that name. Can anyone track her down?

Thanks,

Pat
_________________
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Email: pat @ whitebeamimages.ie

Pat

I am so sorry to hear of your loss. My deepest condolences to you and your family.

Could it be French Creek ? Seem to remember the name from my time in Malta 45 years ago ?

Pat

Here you are:

The RPD (Reichspostdampfer - Imperial Mail Steamer) Feldmarschall was originally commissioned in 1903 with the Deutsche Ost-Afrika-Linie (German East Africa Line), Woermann Konsortium, Hamburg, Germany. In 1916 it was captured by the British at Dar es Salaam. It was then operated by Union-Castle Mail SS Co., who renamed it Field Marshal. It was sold in 1922 to a Chinese consortium and renamed Ling Nam.

Isadirty

French Creek is an inlet leading off the Grand Harbour in Valletta.

You can see it on this map (Senglea):

www.maltavista.net/en/...g/8-8.html


Pat

This map also shows Manoel and Lazzaretto further up.

Thanks for clarifying my doubts.....
...........
www.e-datapro.net/