P053999 Royal Navy Sick Booth Attendant John Roffey
Service from Nov 1959 to Nov 1964
John on the left with his mother and younger brother, what a beautiful and handsome group.
Service History
HMS Collingwood
RNH Haslar
Photo By gordon james brown, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=14261073
Picture by https://wellcomeimages.org/indexplus/obf_images/42/c4/69c1c67dfad94e628cafb9ac701e.jpgGallery: https://wellcomeimages.org/indexplus/image/V0012704.htmlWellcome Collection gallery (2018-04-02): https://wellcomecollection.org/works/fukcrjvy CC-BY-4.0, CC BY 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=36469377
Royal Marine Sick Quarter Deal – RM Depot Deal
“PUNISHMENT GIVEN AND A LESSON LEARNT
This story is about a very effective punishment that I was on the receiving end of. It happened whilst I was stationed on RMSQ Deal.
It had been decided that a junior tattoo should be held on the parade ground to which families of recruits were invited along with members of the general public.
I was in attendance on site, two up with an ambulance in case of emergencies. Our instructions were that anything minor was to be referred to the St Johns Ambulance people who were there whilst leaving us available for serious injuries to be taken by ambulance to the sick bay or transferred to the local hospital.
During the show a young recruit was brought over to us after he cut his lip jumping over a vaulting horse. It was not serious so we sent him to the St John's post to be seen to.
About 20 minutes or so afterwards a Marine came to us and said the RSM wanted a word in his office. When I entered the office the RSM was there with the lad we had sent to the first aid post. After a long tirade about the first aiders showing what he thought of them, I was asked if I thought it was right to do what we did. Did we think he would trust his lads to the rank amateurs when he had the service professionals on site? I explained what instructions we had been given but ti cut no ice.
He looked at me hard, and said "there is the patient, there is the first aid kit get him seen to. You will be up before the CO in the morning", then he stormed out of the office. I did what was needed to the lad. The bleeding had stopped but it was obvious he would have a fat lip for a couple of days. In general he was fine, no other problems to worry about.
After about 30 minutes or so the RSM came back in. He asked fi the lad was alright and would he be able to take part in the finale, which I confirmed was no problem. He sent the lad off, turned to me and said "thanks doc" and turned to go. As he reached the door to
go out he turned back and said "Thanks, you will not hear any more about this" and left.
Being left to sweat under threat of being on COs report for 30 minutes or so and then to be told I would not hear any more about it was a far more effective punishment than actually going up before the CO.
Thanks RSM Thomas, I learned a very valuable lesson that day, one I would never forget.”
“REVENGE OR EFFECTIVE TREATMENT?
Thinking back on my time in the service I suddenly recalled an incident that may be of interest. At the time (August 1961 - August 1963) I was serving in the sick bay at the Royal Marine Depot in Deal in Kent. I call this an unplanned revenge.
During the time I was there we had a new adjutant join. We soon learned that he did not like the Naval Medical staff, meaning the sick bay, and found many an opportunity to have a go at us for the most trivial cause.
Anyway there came a time when he needed to seek treatment from us. He had bought a new pair of riding boots and they had caused him to develop blisters. He demanded treatment urgently as he had a special parade to attend a couple of days later and was in a hurry and rat-arsed into the bargain.
We used a cruel but quick treatment. We removed the skin from the blisters and applied a spirit swab to the area. When we eventually got him down of the ceiling we discovered that he had an allergy to methylated spirit. It ended up with him being hospitalized for a while until he recovered and was able to return to duty.
Strange to say that from then on he treated us with the greatest of respect.”
RNH Bighi Malta
“I joined the Bighi naval hospital August 1963, in Christmas the Greek and Turkish Cypriats started attacking each other. We were put on half hour standby to join ships to go into Cyprus and take off British nationals. It didn't happen thank God but it totally ruined our Christmas celebrations”
Top Photo By Jane Banks, CC BY-SA 2.5, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=13181899
Bottom Photo By Frank Vincentz - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=31900292
John looking resplendent in Malta
