“NOSEY ROSIE” – by Des Kelly
This brilliant video was sent to me by the son of a previous Royal Ceylon Navy pal of mine, by the same name of Percival Nagthall, (Percy). His “old man” was one particular Character who remains unforgettable to me. Percy was already a “Senior-Seaman” when I joined up. There wasn’t a single Navy man at the time, who was a better fisherman than old Perc. How he did it, I will never know, but, when HE was fishing, the fish seemed to jump out of the water to take his bait. Other fishermen, it seemed, just had to WAIT !!
Another reason (or three), why Percy got on sooo well with me, was the fact that, he did not give a damn about some Officers in the Force, at the time. In addition to the fishing, Percy always liked fixing things, so one day he was trying to recycle a bicycle, when this particularly arrogant S.O.B. of an Officer (no names or pack drill here), came up, stopped, and said to Percy “Don’t you know that you must now STAND UP, and salute an Officer” ??. Percy looked up at him and said “Sir, why dont you leave ?(in typical Navy slang language), which meant that Percy was demoted, at the time, from leading Seaman to able Seaman, once again.
I also liked Percy Nagthall because he was an animal lover.
Wherever Percy went (was drafted), his pet baby monkey went with him. Once, Rear Admiral Royce de Mel passed him by, sitting at the base of the clock tower in Chatham Street, playing with his favourite “pet”.Percy saw him pass by in his limo, stood up, grabbed the monkey in his arms and saluted our boss. Rear Admiral Royce was definitely one of the BEST NAVY CAPTAINS that the Force ever had, and he called Percy into his office, told him not to play with monkies so close to Navy Headquarters again, but did not even demote Percy anymore, because, for one thing, an able-Seaman is as low as you can go. I often wonder how far up the ladder did Percy Nagthall ascend to ?. Maybe his son will tell me about it asap. I ENJOYED my time (nearly 9 years in the Senior Force)to the fullest. I was also named
the Singing Sailor, by Captain Royce.
Memories, wonderful memories are made of this.
Desmond Kelly.
(Editor-in-Chief) e’Lanka.
