FUNERALS involving the ROYAL NAVY

BR 1834 Royal Naval Handbook of CEREMONIAL and DRILL

In May 1972 a new version of this BR was published which superseded the 1949 version. That version had been used for the State Funerals [Class I] of King George VI [1952] and of Sir Winston Churchill [Class III] in 1965. The new version was used for the Ceremonial Royal Funeral of Admiral of the Fleet Lord Louis Mountbatten [1979]. The navy has had no other central ceremonial role in other state or royal funerals since, and these were, ages in brackets, [a] HM Queen Mary 1953 [85], [b] HRH Princess Margaret 2002 [71], [c] HM Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother 2002 [101], [d] Princess Diana 1997 [36], [e] HRH Princess Alice of Gloucester 2004 [102], [f] HRH Princess Marina 1968 [61], [g] HRH Prince William of Gloucester 1972 [30]. In a moment you can read the Funeral Section of the BR. It is very interesting, and the treatment of some aspects, like an urn with cremated ashes, will surprise you.

At the time of Lord Mountbatten's funeral the BR was much criticised by those who were tasked to put together a funeral procession. The whole of the BR must have been written by Whale Island, and yet they criticised it more than most. You see, back in 1970 the concept of the Fleet Chief Petty Officer had been accepted by the Admiralty which was to give back a warrant officer to the royal navy for the first time since 1949 when the title warrant officer was replaced with branch Officer, later, in 1956, to become a special duties list officer and now it too abolished. Unlike the 1949 abolished warrant officer, the 1970 fleet chief petty officer, whilst not called so, was a first class warrant officer equivalent to the WO1's in the army and the air force. It is that equivalence which caused trouble for the royal navy. The army and the air force had a long established warrant officer system, and in September 1979 their "pecking order" was well established and understood by all. They were treated separately from both the commissioned officers and the other ranks, but in dress and ceremonial, their "style" was closer to that of an officer than to that of a SNCO.

In 1972 the first of the fleet chief petty officers were promoted. Their role was to undertake the work traditionally done by a junior officer, and not to be a more senior chief petty officer, their pre promotion grade. They were to be employed on divisional work as divisional officers, act as departmental junior officers on big ship staffs and also on flag-staffs when sea-riding flag-ships. In training establishments ashore, they were to be employed as junior officers with dedicated training titles and responsibilities. Whilst their employment was to change, their accommodation would be the same, changing the name of the chief petty officers mess [or senior rates mess] to reflect their elevation, to WO's and SR's mess. Their uniforms did not change except for the badges worn on it, and for the first couple of years, the system was a complete and utter farce suggesting that the whole concept was ill thought out. However, after five years, in approximately 1977, the system intra-RN had settled down, and job satisfaction grew with every passing month. Then came September 1979, and it was soon realised that the Admiralty had totally overlooked the need to put in order the status of the fleet chief petty officer [still many years away from being called a warrant officer] vis-à-vis the inter-Service aspect. From my own experiences, the army just did not know what I was, this despite my royal cipher cuff badges, and it was not uncommon for army and air force personnel to drop the 'fleet' bit, after which I was a chief petty officer, equivalent to a staff sergeant and not to a WO1 two ranks above. But the worst error of all, was that BR 1834, written in 1972 [seven long years previously] had not been re-written to include the role of a fleet chief petty officer in naval, inter-service and national ceremonial.

The only mention of the rate was on page 7-5 of the BR, in paragraph 705 which simply compared relative ranks and ratings between the RN, the WRNS and the QARNNS, and this page was marked ORIGINAL meaning that it had been put there in 1972.

Thus, come the funeral preparations, when the BR called for a chief petty officer to be in attendance, they simply supplanted the chief with a fleet chief, and, you might be saying, what an easy transition: normally I would agree with you. However, chief petty officers wear boots and white anklets and belts in such circumstances and they don't wear black mourning arm bands [See pictures below]. Since no one had ever thought through the procedures, and any change broke precedents, it was mooted that fleet chiefs [being ratings and not officers] should be dressed in the same manner instead of wearing armbands and shoes just like our equivalents in the army and air force did. Even the pressure brought to bear by the many gunnery fleet chief petty officers in attendance, didn't force the answer from the powers that be, as to how we naval men would be treated in this, the very first major ceremonial occasions since the introduction of the fleet chief. It took many senior officers to make the decision to break with naval tradition of having ratings in white webbing marching behind the officers appointed to the gun carriage. As for my own circumstances, no naval party had ever acted at a State occasion carrying the coffin, and in every other case at lesser funerals, my job was done by a senior rate [chief or petty officer] wearing ratings dress. I got to keep my shoes but I wasn't eligible to have an arm band, least ways, not a naval arm band, and mine came for a kind [and understanding] RSM of the 2nd Battalion of the Scots Guards, my host, at the Chelsea Barracks where the Bearers were billeted.

Now to the Funeral section of the Ceremonial BR dated May 1972 - FUNERALS.pdf

	CHURCHILL'S FUNERAL 30.1.1965 in City of London. Click on this thumbnail to the left. Picture is of the gun carriages' crew outside St Paul's Cathedral awaiting the foot guards to form up into their marching position alongside the coffin, after they had placed the coffin on the carriage after the State Funeral Service in St Paul's. They are collecting their bearskins [often referred to wrongly as their busby's] which are not worn when handling the coffin but are when marching. Note the four men at the head outside [two either side] of the front ropes, and again the four men at the head outside [two either side] of the rear ropes, and that the back man in each case is a CPO wearing a while belt, white gaiters and no arm band. Note also that there are no pall bearers who would traditionally march alongside the coffin with the foot guards outside of them. Pall bearers, when used, would be men of the highest rank or calling, in this case, the senior admirals of the fleet, field marshals and marshals of the royal air force. The street ahead on which waits a mass band of the household division and beyond them, other marching troops in the long procession heading towards the City, is St Paul's Churchyard, leading onto Cannon Street then to Mansion House and eventually to Tower Pier. If you have a mind for detail try finding the follow items. Over on the left at the foot of the steps are two officers one in naval uniform and one in army uniform. Behind each one is a bare-headed civilian. The naval man is Lord Mountbatten the Chief of the Defence Staff and the army man the GOC [general officer commanding] the household division and the man responsible for the whole parade and London ceremony in general. Observe the honour paid to the WRNS by having them as street lines immediately outside the Cathedral. There are one or two spare bearskins laying on the street just behind the GOC staff officers standing on the kerb to the right of The GOC. For some inexplicable reason [unless it some form of parallax playing tricks] the front pull rope numbers are clearly stood to the attention whereas the rear drag rope numbers are stood at ease, or at least, they appear to be! At the rear of the front pull rope crew are two sailors facing the coffin. Their job was to attach a brass weight onto the corners of the union flag at the foot end to stop the wind flapping it. Identical brass weights were also applied to the flag at the head end and this by two men taken from the front rank [outboard] of the rear drag rope numbers. They are shown facing front and it is not known at this stage so shortly after the placing of the coffin, whether they have carried out their tasks. The gun carriage escort is not shown in this picture but it is formed of foot guards [in addition to the bearers] and members of the RAF - they will march forward to take up their positions when the foot guards have donned their headgear. This formation can clearly be seen in the next photograph and acts like a sandwich with the navy the filling and the other services the slices of bread. Note the almost premature salute of some of the army officers on the steps of the Cathedral. I noticed this occurrence at Mountbatten's funeral and I believe it to be the customs of the cavalry even though in this case, these officers are dismounted. All other officers saluted when the command was given to advance. Many wonder why such an internationally known great man was elevated no higher than to become a Knight, this despite his high birth and his services to Britain and the free world. Winston Churchill was offered the highest of all awards, namely that of Dukedom, specifically to become the Duke of London, but he declined it. He did so because he wanted to remain in the House of Commons and so that his son could have a political career.
	CHURCHILL'S FUNERAL 30.1.1965 in City of Westminster. This picture shows the gun carriage enroute from the Palace of Westminster to St Paul's Cathedral in Whitehall just before it enters Trafalgar Square. Here, you can clearly see the gun carriage escort stretching the whole length of the gun carriages' crew and made up of foot guards and members of the RAF Regiment and devoid of pall bearers. The men of the Churchill family walk behind the gun carriage and the ladies ride in their coaches behind them. At this point, over to the right, you can see members of the WRAF acting as street liners with members of the St John's Ambulance Brigade positioned between them.
	MOUNTBATTEN'S FUNERAL 05.09.1979 in City of Westminster. This picture shows the gun carriage proceeding onto Horse Guards Parade in Horse Guards Road having turned right off the Mall, enroute to Westminster Abbey from The Queens Chapel at St James's Palace on Marlborough Road. The presence of the senior officers acting as pall bearers can clearly be seen closest to the coffin with the bearers marching outboard of them. On the right hand side of the carriage [as you look at it] the composition is correct, but on my side [I am the man at the back of the outside line of bearers] you will see that an army parade marshal has somehow placed himself in between the pall bearers and the coffin bearers. On my side [the left hand as you view] the rear pall bearer was the senior admiral of the fleet Sir Edward Ashmore, himself, like Lord Louis, a communicator. The four CPO's have been replaced by four FCPO's and I made the firth one directly associated with the gun carriage. The gun carriage does not have an escort. In 1946, Louis Mountbatten was offered a Barony but he turned it down because he thought the honour was too small. Later he accepted a Viscountcy [as Viscount Mountbatten] and then later an elevation to an Earldom to become Earl Mountbatten of Burma.
Medals	Before I mention funeral medals, let me take this opportunity to mention honours as referred to above - some of the names you will not be familiar with but there are no mis-spellings. The order of importance is DUKEDOM, MARQUESSATE, EARLDOM, VISCOUNTCY, BARONY, LIFE BARONY, KNIGHTHOOD, discounting honours which do not create a Title or Style, like for instance, ORDER OF MERIT [OM], COMPANION OF HONOUR [CH] etc, which are letters added after ones name and not before ones name. Many famous people, too many to mention, have refused honours and these include such great men as Rudyard Kipling, Michael Faraday, Stephen Hawkin, and L.S. Lowry who holds the record for the number of honours offered but refused. Many ex Prime Ministers accept honours which elevated them to the House of Lords, but Sir John Major refused such an honour because he wanted to retire fully from politics. Mrs Thatcher was honoured and elevated to the Barony becoming Baroness Thatcher. However, her true reward, was that at the same time her husband Dennis was honoured and given a Baronetcy, thereafter styled as Baron Thatcher. This meant that their son Mark would inherit a Title which couldn't come from his mother! For State Funerals [Class 1] - the last one being in 1952 for King George VI - each rating member of the gun carriages' crew received a RVM [Royal Victorian Medal] Bronze {there is a Silver and a Gold medal also}, the medal to the Royal Victorian Order, the officer members receiving various levels of the MVO from MVO Fifth Class upwards. This also applied to the bearer party. The medal ribbon is shown on the left. For the navy, the list of recipients for these medals can be found at the National Archives, Kew, under ADM [Admiralty] files 171/61. Medals were issued to all those who formed the gun carriages' crew for Queen Victoria {1901}, Edward VII {1910}, George V {1936} and George VI. No medals were issued for Churchill's or Mountbatten's funeral nor will they be if Baroness Thatcher is honoured with a State Funeral Class III.