RMC Annual Review 2020-21 digital (1) - Flipbook - Page 51
Never above you, never below you, always by your side
Long standing members
Long
standing
members
Clifford Coates
Clifford Coates is 96 Years Old,
and is one of the founding
members of North Devon Branch.
Clifford was press ganged
into joining the RMA the
night of his demob.
Marion Loveland
This year we had the pleasure
of being able to visit one of our
oldest and longest standing
members, Marion Loveland, to
celebrate her 100th Birthday.
Marion was serving as an officer
in the wrens at HMS Collingwood
when her fiancé LT Alec Aldis MM
RM was tragically killed on D-Day, on
Sword Beach, which also happened
to be Marion’s 23rd birthday.
On her birthday in 1944, she recalls:
“I went to d
inner with friends
and saw planes flying over. “It
didn’t even cross my mind that
Alec wouldn’t come back.”
Their relationship had been something
that they had kept for themselves, and
as her father Lt Col C.G. Salter OBE RM
(pictured) was the deputy director of
naval recruiting, they had been
cautious about getting
involved with each other.
After he was allegedly adrift in
Plymouth with his Oppos, he
found himself in front of the
CO. He, and his Oppos were
told to place five shillings on
the table. Complying, they were
then told their fine for being
adrift was paid and they were
now members of the RMA.
Cliff returned to North Devon
and the North Devon Branch
was formed in May 1946.
His dedication and participation
with the RMA has continued and
he is still an incredibly active
member at the age of 96.
Marion reported to R.M.Eastney
Barracks for duty on 4th September
1939 and was sent to the Pay Office as a
Wren Writer. She was a member of the
Southampton Branch until it closed.
James ‘Jim’ Porter
“When I finished my C3 course early
in ‘48, I was sent, together with the
late Mick Barry, to the RMO in London.
I was attached to the staff of the
RMA which was housed at Queen
Anne’s Mansions at the time.”
“It was not really a good idea sending
an 18 year old to live in London and the
Corps soon realised its mistake and
returned me to the Corps after a few
months of hard living (my adventures
with Mick, including the sleeping out in
the snow on park benches etc., would
make a book!). The then Secretary was
a strong support and helped me during
this rather unusual period. He enrolled
me in the RMA and I still have my first
Membership Badge, No.42202. which
he presented to me. My membership
lapsed during my first commission in
the East Indies — there was no way then
to pay my subs then. I subsequently
re-joined, paying my subs, through
local unit RMAs, through the ledger,
as a paying member of RMA Deal and,
lastly, as a Central Member. I also have
a second badge numbered 44384.
If my memory serves me rightly, this
came to me on my JNCOs Course at
Plymouth where I “re-joined” as I could
not provide proof of membership to
the Course Officer. A sort of chequered
membership, if you will. As I am only
91, I fear I am still a sprog and there
will be many members who can claim
the crown of oldest member.”
“Alec and I hadn’t told anyone about us.
I read in the lists that he’d been killed.”
“The last time I saw Alec, a few days
before D-Day, he asked me to marry
him at Christmas when he got back.”
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Celebrating the 75th Year of the RMA
www.rma-trmc.org
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