Oral History Gallery

Extract Text (Duration1.32)

We used to have ones, twos, threes, four, fives, six and it was all different uniforms, but obviously they've done away, money, they've done away with the lot of them so all we've got now is your ones, your fours, your fives. But they used to be called ones, eights and threes, it's all very confusing. Like fours are now, eights are now fours and threes are now fives, so I don't know why they've changed.

Q:Did it take a while to work out what you wear when?

A: Normally if there's something that's happening during the day it's normally put on daily orders and beside it would be "rig" what you have to wear, and as long as you know what that is, like three alpha bravos or whatever, three Charlies, then you're sorted but the problem comes when you don't actually know what that is and you're like, "hmmm," so you have to ask somebody and that's when people ask me and I say,"Oh wear your eights" and they go, "Eights." and I'm like, "Well, it was eights when I joined up, but now they are called fours, so you have to say, "Fours," and they're like, "Fours." and you're thinking is that right?, Eights, fours, three, fives what's going on?

Q:Did anybody ever get it wrong?

A: Yeah, I've done it before, I've turned up when you're supposed to be wearing fives and I've turned up in my fours, and then be like "Oop", and nobody's noticed and I like run off and got changed and thought phew, really need to start reading daily orders, or actually asking what the rig is. Like a lot of people do mess it up but it's kind of, you get it in a routine and you know what rig you're supposed to be in, so like when we're at sea after six o'clock you got to be in night rig, which is white shirt, black trousers, unless you're going on watch or you're still working.