A Royal Navy recruit had the surprise of his life when his mum turned up for his passing-out parade, after a fellow trainee paid for her flight from the Caribbean.
Recruit Quaci Crosby was among the latest group of trainee sailors celebrating the end of their 10-week basic training at HMS Raleigh in Cornwall on Friday.
He had no idea his mum, Althea, would be among the group of families and friends invited to the parade. Unknown to him, his classmate Recruit Cameron Hawes, had secretly paid for and organised his mum’s flight so she could be there for her son’s big day.
Recruit Crosby, aged 26, said: “It was very important to have my mum here because joining the Royal Navy was one of my dreams. Seeing that she is here to share it with me is the best thing that has ever happened to me in my life.
"I have no words to explain how grateful I am to Cameron for what he has done for me today."
Mum and son were reunited when Althea was given the honour of presenting her son with his Royal Navy epaulettes, marking his official transition from Recruit to Able Seaman.
She said: "I was excited and nervous all at once. He had been trying to Facetime me and I had to decline the call to keep it all a big secret. It was thrilling and wonderful. It was great to be here and see all of the recruits. I am so proud."
Recruit Hawes sought the assistance of his own mum, Sarah Hole, to put in motion his plan to bring Althea to the UK. Sarah transferred some of Cameron’s savings to Mrs Crosby so she could pay for the flight.
"I phoned my mum and said I wanted to do something. Before I joined the Royal Navy I worked in a sports centre and I saved as much money as I could.
"Everyone in our training class is close, but Crosby and I have been best friends from the start really. We share the same opinions on most things and he’s always had my back. I’ve found training really stressful, but he’s been really supportive."
After Recruit Hawes told HMS Raleigh’s training staff and his fellow trainees what he had done, the surprise became more of a team effort.
He added: "I asked if anyone would else would like to contribute, to make it a group thing, rather than just me, and we’ve raised about £500, which is nearly half the cost of the flight.
"It’s been quite hard to keep it a secret. As a class we haven’t really spoken about it because we’ve been busy every day, but as the day grew nearer we started to get excited."
Recruit Hawes’ mum Sarah arranged and covered the cost of Mrs Crosby’s transport to Plymouth and her accommodation. She also mobilised the support of other families to help host Mrs Crosby during her stay in the UK.
His generosity later earned him a surprise of his own when he was presented with a commendation by HMS Raleigh’s Commanding Officer, Captain Rich Harris, during the passing-out parade.
Captain Harris said: “A key part of our training at Raleigh is to instil our core values into those who join the RN – courage, commitment, discipline, respect for others, integrity and loyalty.
"This particular act embodies many of those values and also is a firm example of the teamwork, camaraderie, and mutual support that we require from our people at sea. Nonetheless, Recruit Hawes, his fellow recruits and the families have taken extraordinary measures on this occasion and are highly commended for it."
While the two recruits are now due to go their separate ways for the second stage of their training – Recruit Hawes is heading to HMS Sultan, while Recruit Crosby will stay at HMS Raleigh – they are adamant they will stay in touch.
Recruit Crosby added: “We’ve been close since day one. During training he has been motivating me and I’ve been motivating him as we just pushed forward. We haven’t been friends for so long, but it is like he’s a brother to me. It’s just been amazing. I’m really happy that we got to pass out in the same division and we get to start our new lives at the same time. Although we will now be separated I’ll be visiting him and he’ll be visiting me."
