The Royal Navy celebrate the Battle of Trafalgar each year to commemorate the sea battle of Trafalgar on 21 October 1805. This year the Newbury Branch of the RNA organised a dinner on the 21st and invited Edwina Cooper, the Mayoress and I to help them celebrate. We were met by Bob McGuiness who is Chairman of the RNA and his wife and daughter who were both involved in the arrangements.
After dinner, the loyal toast to H.M. the Queen was proposed and this was done without standing. This is a tradition in the Royal Navy, and I could only assume that in the good old days, there was little headroom and with the ships tossing and turning, there was always the danger of spilling the drink so they toasted sitting down. The Chairman then proposed a toast to Admiral Nelson. After a few words of introducing me and mentioning my previous Army career, he asked me to say a few words. After thanking them for inviting us, I said that even to someone who had spent years in the Army, the battle of Trafalgar was a significant event in our history. Admiral Nelson, commanding a smaller fleet than those of the combined French and Spanish, was able, through better tactics, seamanship and faster gunnery broadsides, destroyed over half of their ships. There was a high casualty list amongst the British including the death of Nelson himself. It did however put paid to any further ambitious plans of Napoleon to invade the British mainland. As an afterthought, I did mention that Napoleon was finally defeated in that great land battle at Waterloo in 1815 which signalled the end of the Napoleonic war.
The evening ended with disco music and dancing and it was obvious that there were some keen dancers amongst the former sailors. I did anticipate a hornpipe but it never came! Our thanks
to all the RNA members and the volunteers who made this such a pleasant evening for us.
After dinner, the loyal toast to H.M. the Queen was proposed and this was done without standing. This is a tradition in the Royal Navy, and I could only assume that in the good old days, there was little headroom and with the ships tossing and turning, there was always the danger of spilling the drink so they toasted sitting down. The Chairman then proposed a toast to Admiral Nelson. After a few words of introducing me and mentioning my previous Army career, he asked me to say a few words. After thanking them for inviting us, I said that even to someone who had spent years in the Army, the battle of Trafalgar was a significant event in our history. Admiral Nelson, commanding a smaller fleet than those of the combined French and Spanish, was able, through better tactics, seamanship and faster gunnery broadsides, destroyed over half of their ships. There was a high casualty list amongst the British including the death of Nelson himself. It did however put paid to any further ambitious plans of Napoleon to invade the British mainland. As an afterthought, I did mention that Napoleon was finally defeated in that great land battle at Waterloo in 1815 which signalled the end of the Napoleonic war.
The evening ended with disco music and dancing and it was obvious that there were some keen dancers amongst the former sailors. I did anticipate a hornpipe but it never came! Our thanks
to all the RNA members and the volunteers who made this such a pleasant evening for us.
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