- Author
- Newspaper, News Chronicle
- Subjects
- History - general
- Tags
-
- RAN Ships
- None noted.
- Publication
- September 2004 edition of the Naval Historical Review (all rights reserved)
A photo, recalling a bygone age, of the late Captain Bill Cook in his full-dress uniform drew the attention of one of our dedicated volunteers, who produced the following newspaper article from amongst our archives.
Dressed Overall
Lord Teynham has called on the (House of) Lords for restoration of the naval officer’s ceremonial cocked hat – with a modified form of gold lace distinction, costing from £16-20 according to rank – and braided frock-coat. Praising this proposal in a letter to the Daily Telegraph, Vice-Admiral H T Baillie-Grohman wrote:
‘The frock-coat lends weight of authority and dignity to the wearers . . . British prestige should not be lost for the sake of a few pounds . . The absence of any more formal coat than the monkey-jacket (now RAN W3) makes British officers appear like poor relations when they are mingling on their official duties with some of the lesser navies of the world.’
(Extract from the News Chronicle 1954, contributed by Brigid Kirby.)
(This was certainly true at the Canadian Centennial celebrations in 1967 when it was particularly noticeable that both the RN and the USN officers were the only ones not to possess gold-striped pants with their formal Ball Dress. RN and RAN officers of captain’s rank and above have since retained this rig. Ed)