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 In September 1967 my training was almost over. I had spent most of the past 1½ years with the same lads, and we were
all anxiously awaiting news of ‘what ship we were going to be drafted to?’ We were guessing HMS Victorious because she was due for new recruits, and because she was an Aircraft
Carrier, we wrongly assumed that this would be the destination for most of us.
As it was, eight of us were drafted to HMS Llandaff. She was an Aircraft Direction Frigate and was sailing from Mombasa
to Singapore where we would join her. I was excited because we were flying from London to  Singapore, and the thought of going to the Far East was more than a young lad could have hoped for. We spent a couple of weeks both winding down, and paying
several visits to naval stores in order to get our issue of ‘hot climate’ clothing. No 6’s, No 10’s etc. To the uninitiated, these were whites.
I was accompanied to Kensington, London by my eight colleagues.
Spider Webb RO2(G) had been put in charge as he was the senior rating, and the rest of us juniors were; Frank Lane, Graham New, Bill Moore, Graham Harvey, Malcolm Jones, Barry Morgan JRO Broadbent (can’t remember his
christian name?), and myself. From the British Eagle office in Kensington, we made our way to Heathrow and subsequently, onwards across Europe and Asia. Our trip was on a Bristol Brittannia and took us via Istanbul and Bombay
before landing at Paya Lebar airport in Singapore.
 During my time in Singapore we sailed all around Malaysia
doing a ‘Work Up’. These were exercises to bring the ships crew up to speed with battle and emergency situations; Exercising with other ships, submarines and aircraft, replenishing at sea with one or more of the Royal Fleet
Auxiliary ships. When we came into port, a visit to the Nelson and Navy Bars in Sembawang was always welcome for a drink or two of that wonderful Tiger Beer. We had Christmas in Hong Kong,
and in early 1968 we sailed for a months patrol duty offshore Aden. This duty was followed by a trip to Subic Bay in the Philippines where I was lucky enough to meet Bob Lampe;  John Slater and I met up with Bob and a couple of his
mates while drinking in one of the many bars in Olongapo City, and we all had an enjoyable couple of days visiting one of the local American bases near Subic Bay. I hadn’t given these
fellows another thought for years, until I saw a posting on the internet; It was from Bob and he was looking for John Slater. Apparently, they had corresponded for a number
of years, but after Bob had done his time on the Cruiser USS Saint Paul, he was posted up the Mekong River on a US Navy Gunboat (the Vietnam war was at full throttle during this period), and while up river on duty, his camp was
mortar attacked. Nobody was hurt in the attack, but Bob lost all his possessions including John’s address.
After 3 days in Subic Bay, Llandaff left the company of HMS Dido and HMS
Barossa and sailed north to Japan, anchoring between Kagoshima and Mount Sacrojima (an active and smoking volcano). The run ashore in Kagoshima was especially good because Sean Connery had recently finished filming ‘You Only
Live Twice’ there, and the ‘Bond Bar’ was a popular drinking haunt for the lads of HMS Llandaff. We spent the second week in Nagasaki, and then returned to Singapore via Hong Kong where we spent another two weeks. Note: I got to
know Hong Kong very well in the mid to late 80’s as I was posted there while working as a civilian for the British Government.
 In June of 1968 we left Singapore, bound for the UK. We sailed south east and visited the Solomon Islands,
Cairns (Australia), Auckland (New Zealand) where we exercised for 3 weeks. We then sailed north to Fiji, Rotuma, Tarawa, Pearl Harbour in Hawaii (USA) Monterey in California (USA), then turned south and
after refueling at Long Beach (port of Los Angeles), we transited the Panama Canal and stopped off in Barbados prior to our long haul across the Atlantic Ocean. We sailed into Plymouth sound on September
18th 1968; It had been just over a year since I had joined HMS Llandaff in the stores basin at Sembawang dockyard, Singapore.
Llandaff  spent the next few months in Plymouth dockyard where repairs and general maintenance took place. The crew moved out
and into the Benbow huts in Drake Barracks, and marched to work every (very cold) morning. In the early part of 1969 we sailed the south coast of Britain and did a ‘Work Up’ off Portland, with many a run ashore in
the lovely seaside resort of Weymouth. I left HMS Llandaff in the May, which was just before she was due to visit Dan Helder in Holland, and a couple of months before Prince Charles’ investiture at Canarvon Castle, Wales.
Some names of people from Llandaff whom I have come across since leaving the Navy are as follows:
Brum Faulkner was a Chief (Tiff) Electrician and body builder. I met Brum in a pub called the Glue Pot in Harrogate in the early 1980’s.
My wife Kate and I met Graham and Ann New and had dinner with them in a pub in
Southampton. Graham is working as a civilian at HMS Nelson.
 We also dropped in on Mike (Pedro) Peat in Burnham-on-Sea. Pedro worked at Portishead radio for a while, and I met someone
in Turkey years later who knew him from there. I tracked him down on the internet.
I talked to Mike Fielding on the telephone back in 1998 on our return from the Middle East. Since leaving the Navy, Mike had
served 17 years with the Police and was running a very successful ‘Private Detective’ business. Unfortunately, Mike died a couple of years back and is sadly
missed. Mike taught me some of the necessities of being a ‘Matelot’ when I first arrived onboard HMS Llandaff. I liked Mike very much.
I have been in touch with David (Ruby) Murray on many occasions, and he and I exchange pleasantries around our respective Birthday’s. David is married to Hanny and is a successful,
high powered businessman. He and his family live in Holland.
I have talked to Frank Lane on a number of occasions. Frank is running a succesfull business
on the outskirts of Birmingham, and we are still in touch and hope to have a beer together one day soon.
I have talked to Malcolm (Jonah) Jones on the telephone. We tried to meet up while I was
working in Chester recently (Christmas 2003), but due to busy schedule’s on both our parts, it never happened.
I chatted on the internet to Tim Nash for a while in the late 1990’s. Tim now lives in Australia,
and I believe that he is involved in running the family business.
Barry (Moggie) Morgan signed up with the Royal Australian Navy after leaving ours. I am in touch with Barry through email.
I have chatted on the web to Mick Soles, Tas Scully and Barry Mansergh (ex - Jimmy).
I also made contact with Pete McCooey. Pete was my CRS(W) who sent me on an errand for
‘12 Sky Hooks’ and a ‘Long Weight’. The Jack Dusty (PO Stores) gave me a long wait too?’ Pete and his wife are living in Cornwall and make regular visits to Egypt where they enjoy holiday’s in the sun.
In September 2004 I got a welcome surprise email from Bruce Pavier.
Bruce works as a Port Controller at QHM Plymouth and one of his associates was also on
HMS Llandaff, Rab Butler. Bruce retired from the RN as a Yeoman and Rab as a CCY.
Note: An excellent book has been written by Mike Brady who served on HMS Llandaff. The
book is called ‘H.M.S. LLANDAFF A History from Hebburn to Bangladesh’. Click on Mike’s name and drop him an Email if you are interested in purchasing a copy of the superb book.
Although it is known that HMS Llandaff was sold to the Bangladesh Navy and renamed Umar
Farooq, the ending is not clear. Mike Brady found out that a Salisbury class frigate was reported in the Bay of Bengal area in 2001. However, in 1998 I was talking on the telephone to
Mike Fielding (ex-Policeman turned Private Detective), and he said that Llandaff had been sunk into the sand at the end of Dacca runway and the 965 radar was being used as part of
the Ground Control Approach. I suspect that this might not be true, or it might be an exaggeration, however, the conversation took me back to something that I heard in 1997 from
my friend André Caverac who was a pilot working for Oman Air at the time. André told me that flying into Dacca was an experience, and emphasised the very strange looking radar at the
end of the runway. Because this was prior to my conversation with Mike in 1998, I didn’t query his comment further, but my wife Kate confirmed to me that André did mention this.
Note 2: The HMS Llandaff association is run by Kevin (Slinger) Wood, and he organises annual reunions (usually in Cardiff). If you wish to find out more about the association and reunions, click on Kevin’s name to email him.
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