HMS COLLINGWOOD OFFICERS’ ASSOCIATION; THE FIRST 25 YEARS

THE BEGINNING

In 1996 the rules regarding membership of Wardrooms and the implications of Charitable Status were reviewed and, as a direct consequence, the Wardroom found itself no longer able to support the Life Membership arrangements extended to retired officers who had previously served at HMS COLLINGWOOD.  In a letter to Life Members received from the then Mess President, Commander Blackett, dated 12 July 1996, he said that it had been decided to form the Officers’ Association (OA) and to introduce an annual Membership fee of £10 per annum from 1st January 1997.  The membership fees collected went into an ‘OA fund’ and was divided between administration costs of running the OA; subsidies for an attendance at Mess Functions; and a component towards refurbishment and replacement of mess fixtures and fittings.  The decisions on how to spend the fund were made by the Mess President and the Wardroom Mess Committee (WRMC).

It wasn’t until a group of ‘OA’ members obtained permission from the Mess President to organise a New Year Dance to celebrate the Millennium that the Association, as we know it today, started to evolve.  Other social events followed and it was recognised that a more formal standing of those running the functions was needed.  The evolution of this embryo group was driven largely by Lt Mike Draper and Lt Cdr Bill Legg who established an official standing with the Mess President and WRMC and were subsequently involved in decisions on how the OA fund should be spent.  This led to a meeting of ‘volunteers’ on 11 March 2002 which was the beginning of the OA Committee.  In addition to the volunteers, the meeting was attended by the Wardroom Mess Treasurer (WRMT) and a Serving officer who had been appointed the first OA Secretary.  The OA Committee would be a Sub-Committee of the main Wardroom Mess Committee under the aegis of the President of the Wardroom Mess and the OA Chairman would be accountable to the Mess President.  It was explained that until the Constitution and Terms of Reference (TORs) had been agreed by the Mess President and the WRMC the OA Committee could not be formally created. A draft constitution was produced by Cdr McDonough and Cdr Dawson-Taylor which, together with the TORs, were approved by the Mess President on 9 April 2002 and subsequently agreed by the WRMC. Hence the OA Committee and the OA of today was officially formed.

THE COMMITTEE

Present at the meeting in Marlborough Building of the OA Committee ‘Volunteers’ on 11 March 2002 were the following officers; Lt Cdr David Cox, OA Sec; Mr Howard Alexander, WRMT; Cdr John McDonough; Cdr David Dawson-Taylor; Cdr Geoff Meekums; Lt Cdr Bill Legg; Lt David Asby and Lt Mike Draper.  Following the approval of the Constitution and TORs, the first ‘official’ meeting of the newly formed OA Committee was on Friday 24 May 2002.  By then the various roles of the Committee had been decided, Lt Mike Draper became Chairman, Cdr David Dawson-Taylor as Treasurer, Lt Cdr Legg was Social Secretary and Cdr John McDonough Assistant Secretary (A/Sec) although he was not at the meeting.  The   A Sec, WRMT and Assistant WRMT (Miss Jo D’Arcy) were also present as were the other members of the OA Committee.

The Inaugural OA AGM took place on 26 July 2002 and was attended by 11 OA members and included a tour of the new buildings. 

Committee meetings, which had now been moved to the Wardroom, were held at about 2 monthly intervals until 2006 when they changed to 4 a year including the meeting prior to the AGM.  A wooden and brass plaque (costing £248) with the names and roles of the members of the OA Committee was manufactured and placed in the foyer adjacent to the WRMC board.

In 2003, Lt Cdr Cox, OA Sec left COLLINGWOOD and was succeeded by Lt David Temple.  Due to other commitments, Cdr John McDonough also left the Committee and was succeeded by Lt Cdr Janice Rouse as A/Sec.  The following year Cdr David Dawson-Taylor was succeeded by Lt Dave Asby as Treasurer and Cdr Dawson-Taylor, in accordance with the Rules and Constitution, was voted in as Vice Chairman, he had also taken on the role as the OA webmaster. 

There was little change in the Committee until the end of 2004 when Lt Tony Clarkson had volunteered to take over as OA Sec because Lt Cdr Temple was leaving COLLINGWOOD for a new appointment.  Lt Clarkson was OA Sec until he moved on in 2006 and Lt Jane Ruddock took over.  With the news in 2007 that Lt Ruddock was leaving COLLINGWOOD the Chairman wrote to Cdr Watts, the current Mess President, suggesting that as there had been 5 different OA Secs since 2002, for continuity, a non-serving officer could fill the post of OA Sec in future.  Cdr Watts attended the next committee meeting and stated his preference for the OA Sec to be a Serving Officer and had appointed Lt Ian Harrison to take over from Lt Ruddock.  Cdr Watts thought it was important that the OA Sec should work within COLLINGWOOD and be conversant with the current day to day running of the establishment and as a Serving officer, the OA sec was automatically a member of the WRMC which was agreed an advantage to the OA.

At the 2007 AGM Cdr Dawson-Taylor resigned from the Committee but continued to act as the OA webmaster; Cdr Meekums took over as Vice Chairman on Cdr Dawson-Taylor’s departure; and Lt Cdr Laurie joined the OA Committee at the same time filling the vacancy created. 

There was no change to the Committee over the next year but discussions continued on changing the OA Sec to be a non- Serving officer.  In 2009, due to increasing commitments in other areas Lt Asby resigned from the Committee and Lt Cdr Laurie took over as Treasurer.  In response to a notice on the website Lt Cdr Churchill volunteered to join the Committee.  The possibility of splitting the OA Sec’s responsibilities had been discussed with the WR Mess President, one part carried out by a Serving officer, such as organising the OA Award and the 2nd part by an OA member for day-to-day tasks.  The first step was to write out the OA Sec’s TORs and then decide the split.  A new post of OA Liaison Officer (OALO) was created with Lt Cdr Christie, a Serving officer, in the post and Lt Cdr Churchill became the OA Sec which was now a non-Serving officer’s post.  At the 2010 AGM Lt Draper stood down as Chairman and the Vice Chairman, Cdr Meekums took over for the interim year before Cdre Whyntie, who had just joined the Committee, took over as Chairman.  At the end of 2011, following discussions between Cdre Whyntie, who had now taken over as Chairman, and Cdr Mike Dreelan, the new Mess President, it was decided to abandon the post of OALO as Cdr Dreelan’s preference was to have a member of the OA Committee on the WRMC.  Lt Cdr Trevor James volunteered to take on the role, so since 2012, the OA has had a Committee member, with full voting rights, on the WRMC.

In 2013 Lt Cdr Doug Howe joined the OA Committee.  At the beginning of 2014 Capt Jim Palmer took over as webmaster from Cdr Dawson-Taylor, attending the meetings in his role as webmaster but did not become a full member of the Committee until after the sad deaths of Lt Cdr Legg and Cdr Meekums in 2017.  Lt Cdr Howe took over as Vice Chairman following the death of Cdr Meekums.  Lt Gittins briefly served on the Committee taking over as Social Sec from Lt Cdr Legg, but otherwise the Committee was lacking members.  Cdre Whyntie, as Chairman, approached several officers and Lt Cdr Colin Brooks, Lt Cdr Martin Carr, Cdr Derek Coombes, Cdr Nick Quine and Lt Cdr David Rook all joined the Committee at the 2018 AGM.  Lt Cdr Churchill had decided to stand down and Cdr Coombes took over as OA Sec.  The TORs of the OA Sec were revisited and the membership tasks were transferred to Lt Cdr Carr who became the Membership and Social Secretary.  Later that year Cdre Whyntie announced that he would be standing down as Chairman at the 2019 AGM to pursue other projects and Capt John McGrath had agreed to take over for 2 years as a ‘stop gap’.  Early in 2020 Cdr Quine resigned from the Committee for personal reasons and Capt Palmer volunteered to be Chairman when Capt McGrath stood down at the 2021 AGM.  Because of the coronavirus pandemic and the lack of access to COLLINGWOOD, from the middle of March 2020 all committee meetings and AGMs were held ‘virtually’ until September 2021 when the normal Committee meetings resumed, but because there was still no access to HMS COLLINGWOOD, the meeting was held at the Chairman’s house.

THE MEMBERSHIP

Current Wardroom computer records go back only to 2009 and paperwork is only kept for 7 years so there is no information on how many Wardroom Life Members there were in 1996 when the rules regarding Life Membership changed.  It is assumed that all Life Members were given the choice either to pay the annual subscription of £10 to become a member of the newly formed OA, or to terminate their Life Membership.  The earliest record of membership numbers was quoted in the minutes of the WRMC meeting on 19 June 2002 and was given as 611 OA members.  The new membership structure didn’t take effect until 1 January 2003, so it is assumed that the figure of 611 was the number of those ex Life Members who had agreed to pay the £10 annual subscription.  In his letter of 16 July 2002 Cdr Durston, who was the Mess President at that time, gave details of the possible options for the 611 ex Life Members who, back in 1996, had opted to join the newly formed OA.  The options were to become Full or Associate members and pay the same charges as Serving Officers, or to choose either Active or Country membership from the new 2 tier membership structure which had just been introduced.  The ‘Active OA’ being aimed at local OA members who wanted to use the Wardroom on a regular basis and the ‘Country OA for those members who didn’t.

Initially, membership was open to officers who had served a full appointment on the staffs of COLLINGWOOD, MERCURY or CAMBRIDGE; Served as Engineer Officers of the WE Branch; Served as officers of the Communications sub-specialisation; officers previously been Life Members of COLLINGWOOD Wardroom Mess; other officers at the Mess President’s discretion.  At a later date, when Dryad moved into COLLINGWOOD, officers that had served of the Warfare sub-specialisation were added as were Royal Naval Reserve (RNR) officers who had served a full appointment in those establishments and previous Life members of CAMBRIDGE, MERCURY and DRYAD Wardroom Messes.

Attempts at recruiting previous Life Members of the Wardroom Messes produced only a few new members.  At the beginning of 2003 there were 60 Active and 196 Country members but by February 2005 these figures had increased to a total of 500 made up of 279 Active and 221 Country members.  At the 2007 AGM the Full and Associate membership was quoted for the first time at 38 members in addition to 274 Active and 207 Country.  Honorary membership was introduced, in particular for those officers who had donated swords for the OA Award, but also to some retiring members of the Committee in recognition of their work for the OA during their time on the Committee.

For various reasons including those officers who have ‘Crossed the Bar’ the membership has declined (at Dec 2021) to a total of 398 made up of 269 Active, 104 Country, 14 Full and 11 Honorary members.

The OA Study

In 2013 Cdre Whyntie, Chairman, asked Lt Cdr Howe to produce a ‘Study into the Future of the OA’ using a small sub group of OA members.  The TORs and the Scope for the study were produced and the sub-group provided questions covering the main areas suggested in the Scope.  The questionnaire was sent to 40 members who had been randomly selected by the OA Sec.  Lt Cdr Howe took all the responses and distilled them down into specific areas of Management and Expectations, Communication, New Younger Members and Additional Activities and Finances.  The final Report, which was presented at the 2014 AGM, concluded that there were no major significant changes required to the structure or rules to take the Association forward for the next decade.  It continued to be well run and successful and was also considered to be good value for money.  The suggestions and ideas which had emerged from the study were minor and could be addressed through the normal business of the Association.

Newsletters

Christmas 2002, the first OA Newsletter was written by Lt David Cox, the OA sec at that time, and was sent out with a modified version of the HMS COLLINGWOOD’s Annual Newsletter which had update news of training matters within the Establishment and other general information including the details of the inaugural AGM of the OA on 26 Jul 02.  Since the production of that first Newsletter, subsequent OA Secs have produced them twice a year, Spring and Winter.  They are useful for keeping the membership informed of any changes and news of past and future events etc.  They also contain other relevant articles.

FINANCE AND PROJECTS

When the £10 annual fee was introduced, the original concept was for 50% to be used to subsidise Wardroom events attended by OA members, 25% used to cover the cost of running the OA and 25% to be used towards replacement and refurbishment of items in the WR Mess not covered by the Crown.

An early balance sheet showing the COLLINGWOOD Officers’ Association Accounts shows the income and expenditure covering the period of 1 Oct 97 to 1 Jul 02.  The income was from subscriptions (about £5000 pa) and the expenditure is mainly for admin, subsidies and wardroom refurbishment. There was also an annual block membership fee of £500 for the use of the Sport and Recreation Centre (SARC).  Originally in 2002 the OA annual subscription was set at £15 Active members and £5 for Country members although these were increased to £20 and £9 respectively from February 2003.

One of the 2 items coming under the heading of Wardroom refurbishment was for repairs to the Victoria and Albert (VA) wheel which stands in the foyer, £146 in 1997 and £511 in 1999, but the accounts also show that a donation of £500 was received from the Trophy store in 1999 specifically intended for the VA wheel.  The other item listed was £2500 for candelabra refurbishment in 2001.   A balance of £5232.59 at 1 Oct 01 was ‘ring fenced’ for wardroom refurbishment and replacement.  There were a number of projects that the Wardroom Mess needed funding and it would be up to the OA Committee to decide on how the ‘ring fenced’ money would be spent. 

One of the major projects for which the Wardroom required funding was the upgrading of the gardens in front of the Mess.  After a tour of the gardens the Mess Manager explained what improvements were to be made at a cost of £6220.  The Committee considered the project and unanimously endorsed the proposal to spend £5000 from OA funds towards the cost of the project.  The Garden Project was completed by the end of 2002.  The WRMC decided that The Mercury statue would be the centrepiece and the OA contributed a further £500 towards its cost. It had been agreed that the garden would contain a plaque recognising the contribution made by the OA and this plaque was unveiled by Lt Draper, Chairman, on 1 Aug 03 just prior to the 2003 OA AGM. 

Another project involving the OA was in 2015 as part of the Buzz Bar refurbishment when £2000 was allocated for the production of a mirror depicting pictures of COLLINGWOOD and the other establishments MERCURY, VERNON and DRYAD which had moved into the establishment.  The Buzz Bar was renamed ‘Woodies’ and officially opened on 19 Nov 15.

Also in 2015, following the recent death of Lt Mike Draper, the first OA Chairman, the ‘HMS COLLINGWOOD OA Chairman’s Gavel’ was commissioned and inscribed in his memory.

In 2017, the Chairman, Cdre Adrian Whyntie, became aware of two life-size busts of Admiral Lord Collingwood.  One overlooks the bay at Port Mahon, Menorca, the other in the Town Hall of Morpeth the home of Collingwood’s wife and two daughters.  Fortunately, the mould still existed so he launched an appeal to raise the funds to commission one for the Wardroom.  The proposal was well received to the extent that the project was fully funded by donations from the OA membership.  The bust, which is in the Wardroom foyer, was unveiled by the OA Chairman, Cdre Whyntie, on 9 Jun 2019 following the OA AGM. 

The Greenie

The Greenie started off as “History of the Electrical Branch” and was being produced by Lt Cdr Chadwick.  In 2005 the OA was asked to sponsor the publication and to help with its completion.  Originally it had been costed by the Collingwood Amenities Fund (CAF) and the plan had been to publish it in time for the 50th anniversary of the WE branch in 1996 but the project had overrun by 10 years and funding wasn’t available from the CAF.  The OA Committee agreed to take over the project and proposed to advertise for a volunteer from the OA membership to update and complete the book.  Cdr Patrick Moore offered his services in 2007 and agreed to edit the draft copy produced by Lt Cdr Chadwick.  After initial editing, Cdr Moore advised that confining the book to the history of the Electrical Branch would make it too narrow in scope and of little interest to a Publisher.  He recommended that the scope be expanded and the book be subtitled ‘The History of Warfare Technology in the Royal Navy’.  This was agreed by the Committee.  ‘The Greenie’ was published by the History Press in 2011 with the Royalties going to the Royal Navy and Royal Marines Charity.

THE SOCIAL SIDE

As previously stated in the first chapter of this history, the embryo of the OA developed from a New Year Dance held in the Wardroom Mess. to celebrate the 2000 Millennium.  The SD R’s and L’s, who met regularly, decided to hold the dance to celebrate the 2000 Millennium. The event, having been approved by the Mess President and the Mess Manager, was run by Lt Cdr Bill Legg, Lt Colin Gittins, Lt John Tucker and Lt Mike Draper and wives, with all hands in supporting as requested/required. All tables were laid with decorations, place settings and set ready for an American supper, i.e., bring your own. Music was supplied by Lt Gittins and his Ghetto Blaster. The next morning all the organisers assembled to clear up and put the Dining Room back together. It was a totally self- supporting event. It had been a great evening, enjoyed by all and the decision was made to repeat it each New Year thereafter. Over a couple of drinks that same group of four felt that with the support of the members a Summer Ball could be possible and so it proved to be, putting up the stage themselves for a band to play.  From then on, the events became regular and as the word got around and larger numbers became involved.

Following the official formation of the OA Committee in May 2002, the first event held was the Annual Dinner on 26 July 2002 following the inaugural OA AGM.  This was followed by the Jubilee Ball on 16 August and a New Year Ball, with 273 attendees, at the end of the year.  In 2003 the Annual Dinner, which attracted a Crown Subsidy, was changed to a Dinner and Dance and was attended by 250 people.  Summer and Winter Balls were held over the next few years and in most cases were oversubscribed.  In 2017 it was agreed to move the date of the OA Winter Ball to February and turn it into a Valentine Ball, and at the request of the WR Mess to share the function it became a joint event.  Another event shared with the WR is the Film Nights which are mainly run by the OA.  Following interest by members to take part in a Remembrance ceremony, Cdre Whyntie, as Chairman of the OA, was invited to join the Captain of COLLINGWOOD in laying a wreath on Remembrance Day in 2016 at the Falkland Islands Memorial Stone.

This joint event has remained on the calendar to the current day, and it has been suggested that, in the future, it could be followed by a lunch for OA members attending the event.  A lunch following the AGM had been introduced as had Sunday lunches and were proving very successful.  In particular, the combined OA/SDs(L&R) Christmas Lunch has always been very popular and well attended.

To mark the 200th Anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar a Trafalgar Night Dinner was organised with a budget of £5000.  Originally Adm Sir Lyndsay Bryson had agreed to be the Guest of Honour but unfortunately, he had ‘Crossed the Bar’ on 24 Mar 05 so Adm Sir Neville Purvis took his place.  Other guests were Lady Bryson, Lady Fieldhouse and the recent recipient of the OA Award plus partner.  The CO and Mess President were also invited but were unable to attend.  About 280 attended of which 50 were Active OA members.  Each person attending was given a port glass with engraving “HMS COLLINGWOOD OFFICERS’ ASSOCIATION Trafalgar Night 2005” and would include the COLLINGWOOD crest.  There was no labour charge for the dinner because once a year the OA had a contractual event that was paid for by the MOD.  This ‘crown subsidy’ continued each year until in 2015 it was announced that the MOD subsidy was to be removed from non-active Service personnel and civilians.  From then on, all labour charges for social events had to be paid by the OA.

An informal Ladies’ Night Dinner was introduced in November 2006 with music during the dinner and a singer added for post dinner entertainment.  The event was repeated in the following 3 years but the interest declined and in 2010, following the suggestion of one of the Committee members, a formal Trafalgar Ladies’ Night Dinner was held on the same lines as the 2005 event but on a smaller scale.  The event proved very popular and has remained on the OA’s social programme to the current time.  The Gosport Sea Cadets provided the Side Party and paraded the Baron of Beef in 2010 and 2011.  The COLLINGWOOD VCC and the Cumberland Guard have also been used to carry out the ceremony.

Unfortunately, the 2018 and 2019 Summer Balls had to be cancelled because in 2018 the Committee was lacking a Social Secretary and other Committee members were too thinly spread to assume responsibility for running the ball and the following year there was an insufficient number of attendees to make it viable.  Following the poor attendance at the Valentine Ball in 2019, the Committee decided to discontinue Balls for 2 years

Following a suggestion from a member, a new event of a Golf Day at Southwick was introduced in September 2019 with 6 members and one guest attending.  It was planned to hold the event the following year, however, like other social events planned for 2020, it was cancelled following the lockdown caused by the Covid pandemic from the middle of March.  The final social event before the lockdown was the formal lunch, with 96 people attending, on Saturday 7 March 2020 to celebrate the 80th Anniversary of COLLINGWOOD and the 210th Anniversary of the death of Adm Lord Collingwood. Captain Jordan, the Captain of COLLINGWOOD was invited as the Principal Guest.

With the resumption of access to HMS COLLINGWOOD being restored, an OA Trafalgar Ladies’ Night Dinner was held on Friday 29th October 2021. The Christmas Families Lunch was also held on Sunday 28th November 2021.

OA AWARD

The idea of the OA Award originated at a meeting of the OA Committee in May 2003 when the Treasurer at that time suggested that some of the OA funds should be used to ‘sponsor’ young officers within HMS COLLINGWOOD.

Following various discussions at subsequent committee meetings the Committee agreed that a prize would be awarded and that it would be either in the form of a monetary prize or as a purchased gift to the value of about £500. In conjunction with the Commodore at the time, it was decided that a telescope (with cash differential) would be awarded to the junior officer on a MWS course (of at least 6 months) who showed the most leadership potential. The prize would be awarded annually and would be presented at divisions at the end of each Summer term. The first award was scheduled for August 2004.

For various reasons and delays in 2004, it was decided to abandon the award for that year and to set up the sponsorship for the year ending August 2005. Because of the changing pattern of RN training and the shorter time that officers spent on course, the numbers of students eligible to be considered for the award was greatly reduced so it was decided that the award would be open to all junior officers either on the staff or on course. It was also agreed that the award would be changed to a sword with the necessary change in budget.
The initial 3 swords were purchased from the Imperial Sword Company but subsequent swords have been kindly donated by retired officers. Donated swords are refurbished, as necessary, before presentation to the recipient. All swords are engraved with “Presented by the HMS COLLINGWOOD Officers’ Association”.  Initially the swords were refurbished by the Imperial Sword Co., but other companies such as “Sussex Swords” and “Crisp and Son Sword and Cutlers” have done the work.  In recent years Pooleys had been used for the refurbishment.

The first sword was presented to Lt Toby Evison by Vice Adm Sir Neville Purvis KCB on 14 October 2005 at the OA Ladies’ Trafalgar Night Dinner. Subsequent swords were presented as originally planned at divisions at the end of each Summer Term.
Details of subsequent recipients and presentations are as follows: –

2006   Lt Colin Darkins presented by OA Chairman Lt Mike Draper.
2007   Lt Alexander Smith presented by OA Chairman Lt Mike Draper
2008   Lt Peter Ehrahiemen presented by OA Chairman Lt Mike Draper and donated by Capt Hack.
2009   Lt Kevin Miller presented by HRH The Princess Royal and donated by Capt Hack.
2010   Lt Rachael Smallwood presented by Adm Sir Trevor Soar and donated by the daughter of the late Capt John Robinson.
2011   Lt Cdr Paul (Dusty) Miller presented by OA Chairman Cdre Adrian Whyntie and donated by Lt Cdr Ken Pile
2012   Lt Paul Gill presented by OA Chairman Cdre Adrian Whyntie and donated by Lieutenant Clem Saull.
2013   Lt Cdr Nigel Griffiths QGM presented by OA Chairman Cdre Adrian Whyntie and Mike Covington, the nephew of Cdr R Covington Royal Navy who kindly donated his sword.
2014   Lt Jon Sutcliff donated and presented by Lt Mike Draper.
2015   Lt Mike Bray donated and presented by Lt Paul Daysh to Flt Sgt Vanessa Bray, wife of Lt Bray.
2016   Lt Matt Millyard donated and presented by Cdr Andrew Dent.
2017   Lt Ollie James donated and presented by Lt Cdr Mike Edmunds.
2018   Lt Lucy Robus presented by HRH The Princess Royal, donated by Mrs Judith Turner wife of the late Lt Cdr John Turner.
2019   Lt Dave Haw presented by First Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Staff, Adm Tony Radakin CB, ADC, donated by Capt Charles Crawford, a previous Captain of HMS COLLINGWOOD.
2020   The OA sword, which had been donated by Mrs Gill Leighton-Goodall, was presented by Capt McGrath but details of the winner are withheld at the request of the recipient.
2021   Lt Cdr Tom Forbes presented by Cdre Andy Jordan.

THE CONCLUSION

The history ‘HMS COLLINGWOOD Officers’ Association; The first 25 Years’ was written following a suggestion by Captain John McGrath, OA Chairman 2019 -2021 to record why and how the Association started and, subsequently, has evolved over the past 25 years. From an initial membership of over 600 in 1996 the current number of members is about 400.  For the past 25 years ex HMS COLLINGWOOD Life Members, and subsequently other eligible officers, have been kept in touch and had the opportunity to enjoy Mess facilities and to participate in the social life of the Establishment.  In return, the OA has added social events of their own, which Wardroom members are welcome to attend, and has tried to contribute to both the Establishment and the Wardroom.  It is hoped that this liaison will continue into the future.

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The ‘HMS COLLINGWOOD Officers’ Association; The First 25 Years’ was produced by Lt Cdr Janice Rouse with contributions from Lt Howard Alexander, Jo D’Arcy, Lt Dave Asby, Lt Cdr Colin Brooks, Lt Cdr Martin Carr, Cdr Derek Coombes, Cdr David Dawson-Taylor, Lt Cdr Doug Howe, Lt Cdr Trevor James, Cdr John McDonough, Capt John McGrath, Cdr Patrick Moore, Capt Jim Palmer, Lt Cdr Dave Rook, Cdr Bill Samways, Amanda Shearing, Cdre Adrian Whyntie.