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HMS Prince of Wales crew visit veterans
12 December 2024
HMS Prince of Wales’ high-profile visit to Liverpool shortly before Christmas allowed sailors to help out at charities their ship supports – and see where the money they raise goes.
The age and frailty of inhabitants of Broughton House Care Village for veterans in Salford ruled out them negotiating the carrier’s gangways and passageways.
Instead, seven crew hit the M62 to drop in on the veterans – with a ship’s crest as a memento.
Broughton House has been meeting the needs of veterans since the middle of WW1, providing a home for more than 8,000 Servicemen and women since 1916.
Today the re recently-redeveloped complex with a 64-bed care home, with independent living apartments, a museum, gym, hairdressing and barber’s salon, and a restaurant/bar for residents.
Among present day residents are WW2 RN veterans Monty Black and Cliff Butterworth, both 99.
Monty was conscripted into the army at the age of 18 in December 1943, later transferring to the Royal Navy, He worked in communications and served in Ceylon and India, gaining experience in sending Morse code messages.
He said: “Having been in the Royal Navy, it was interesting to meet the crew and to hear how they live and what they do. It was very nice that they came to Broughton House.”
Cliff joined the Royal Navy as a volunteer in 1942 at the age of 17 and served as a deck hand on HMS Brocklesby, a Hunt-class destroyer whose missions included escorting convoys of troopships for the seaborne landings on Sicily in July 1943 and the Italian coast in September 1943, before operating in The Channel until the end of the war in Europe.
Chatting with them was 18-year-old Engineering Technician Joe Davis-Moore from Bristol, who was inspired to join the Royal Navy by stories of his great-grandfather John Rowles, an Able Seaman who served on HMS Wild Goose.
“I really enjoyed hearing the Broughton House veterans’ stories. It was genuinely lovely to hear from them first-hand and share our different experiences.”
The crew members who visited Broughton House were led by Warrant Officer Wolfie Nagel.
They were given a tour of the museum, talked with staff and residents and had lunch in the veterans’ mess. They also presented Broughton House with a plaque bearing the crest of the HMS Prince of Wales as a memento of their visit.
Care home staff members attended a reception on board during the ship’s stay on Merseyside.
For Warrant Officer ‘Wolfie’ Nagel, who organised the visit to Broughton House, meeting the veterans was a two-way experience.
“The opportunity to talk to them about their experiences is a brilliant education for our crew and helps to keep the memories alive. It was genuinely inspiring to hear the stories of the veterans at Broughton House and to pay our respects to them.
“Their eyes lit up when they were talking to us, sharing their experiences and their stories. It’s an amazing place, and it was wonderful to see how veterans are being taken good care of there.”
Chief executive Karen Miller said residents enjoyed “a rather magical morning” with the carrier’s crew, “swapping stories past and present”.
“We can't thank them enough for their generosity of time and kinship. We are very grateful, and wish all the crew fair winds for the future.”
Having been in the Royal Navy, it was interesting to meet the crew and to hear how they live and what they do.
In Liverpool, a team from the carrier’s air engineering department led by Leading AET Ryan Boase helped younger veterans who have fallen on hard times.
Veterans Launchpad provides a home for former service personnel – single or couples – who have none.
The Speke-based charity provides a house for up to two years, mixing with people in the same predicament, helping each other to get back on their feet.
As well as the individual homes, there are communal areas, a garden, laundry and learning/IT suites for courses and training.
The sailors chatted with Army and Navy veterans who recounted their life stories and how the charity helped them.
They then got stuck into refurbishing one of the flats – lounge, bathroom and kitchen all needed a makeover.
Six hours later, the trio downed paint brushes with the rooms freshly adorned in new colours – much to the delight of the charity who were surprised by how much had been achieved in a short space of time.