
Dennis Mills

Coder (S) Badge*

TREU UND FEST
True and Steadfast
*image courtesy John Fletcher
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Ex Leading Coder (Special) D/MX919781 Dennis Mills
MY LIFE IN THE ROYAL NAVY 1952-54
In January
1952 Dennis enlisted in the RNVR as an Ordinary Seaman and
received three weeks training in the carrier HMS
Indefatigable in August-September 1952. Meanwhile his
suitability for Russian language training during National
Service had been recognised and he joined the RN in October
as a Coder (Special), a member of a new branch created in
1951.
He reported
to the New Entry Section, then at Victoria Barracks,
Southsea and part of HMS Victory, Portsmouth, where
his class had three weeks initial training followed by a two
weeks coding course at Chatham. Next, Dennis was drafted for
two months sea time in HMS Portchester Castle, an A/S
frigate stationed at Portland.
From
February to Christmas 1953, he was on the fifth Russian
translators course at Joint Services School for Linguists,
Coulsdon, Surrey. Three months training as a Russian
language radio operator came next and most of summer 1954
was spent at HMS Royal Albert, a shore station at
Cuxhaven, Germany. Here Soviet naval and military radio
traffic was intercepted, the messages logged and taped being
sent to GCHQ in Cheltenham. After demob in October 1952
Dennis served in the RN Special Reserve for ten years, four
of them in the active reserve which involved return trips to
Germany.
Dennis'
story is available in Adobe Acrobat format
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H.M.S. VICTORY
Victoria Barracks, New entry basic training establishment,
at Southsea, Portsmouth
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H.M.S. PORTCHESTER CASTLE
A Castle-class corvette built in 1943 and reclassified as an
anti-submarine Frigate post war: scrapped in 1958.
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H.M.S. ROYAL ALBERT
RN base, Cuxhaven, Germany
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