Letter to His Majesty King Charles III

In this very sad time since the passing of our gracious Queen Elisabeth II, to whom every member of the Association has served for their entire military careers to date, we wish to reassure our members that we continue to remain faithful to our obligations we gave when we joined up.

In light of these momentous events, the Association Committee agreed that a letter should be sent to the HRH the King to proclaim our thanks to the Queen and to show we remain loyal servants. A copy of the letter can be downloaded below.

As some of you may know the King served in the Royal Airforce, but after passing out at Royal Air Force College Cranwell he embarked on a naval career and enrolled in a six-week course at the Royal Naval College Dartmouth. He then served on the guided-missile destroyer HMS Norfolk (1971–1972) and the frigates HMS Minerva (1972–1973) and HMS Jupiter (1974). In 1974, he qualified as a helicopter pilot at RNAS Yeovilton, and then joined 845 Naval Air Squadron, operating from HMS Hermes.

However, on 9 February 1976, he took command of the coastal minehunter HMS Bronington for his last ten months of active service in the navy. It is this brief period, serving in the Mine Warfare community that many members have fond memories of him. We are also lucky to have members of the Mine Warfare branch that served onboard the Royal Yacht HMS Britannia in service of the Royal Family. Also, let us not forget that two former serving MW rates are currently Yeomen Warders of His Majesty’s Royal Palace and Fortress the Tower of London.

We should be rightly proud to have served so closely to our Royal Family and continue to do so.