Page 37 - The Cormorant Issue 14

Trafalgar Night Dinner
Cdr Sue Moore RN
On Tue 19th October 2010 the Royal Naval con- tingent of ACSC 14 hosted their fellow Services, international students, and staff in the annual cel- ebration of Admiral Lord Nelson’s greatest battle; Trafalgar, where on 21 October 1805 the Royal Navy defeated a combined French and Span- ish Armada which was under the Command of
Admiral Villeneuve.
Just under 300 people gathered for pre-dinner drinks in the Forum which had been decorated with Nelson’s famous flag hoist; England Expects That Every Man Will Do His Duty. A call to dinner provided by a Royal Marines bugler and a drum roll from the Cumberland Guard signalled the start of the festivities. An excellent meal was interspersed with the Parading of the Baron of Beef by the Cumberland Guard, the Parade of the Ships of the Line by Swindon Sea Cadets, and some rousing sing- ing of the obligatory Hearts of Oak and Rule Britannia, coupled nat- urally by some very enthusiastic banging of the tables. Of note, the Royal Marines Band of HMS COLLINGWOOD did us proud, playing throughout the dinner. The main speech of the evening was given by the Guest of Honour, Commander Operations, Rear Admi- ral Mark Anderson who carefully managed to avoid mention of the SDSR which had been announced the previous day. There were Spanish and French ripostes from Lt Cdr Ricardo Gomez and Lt Cdr Sebastien Perruchio, who also presented to the Admi- ral a plaque bearing the name of the man who, with an extremely lucky shot, managed to mortally wound Nelson (for those non-his- torians among you, his name was Sergeant
Robert Guillemard).
Following a second, stirring, rendition of Rule Britannia and a few more sea shanties it was
time to retire to the Henderson Bar to continue the celebrations which, in the finest traditions of Trafalgar Night Dinners, con- cluded sometime just before dawn. The Trafalgar Night Mess Dinner Committee members were Cdr Ed Ahlgren, Cdr Rory Bryan, Lt Cdr Aj Ajala, Lt Cdr Gavin Coyle, Lt Cdr Shane Doran, Lt Cdr Marcus Jacques, Lt Cdr Dave Knight, Lt Cdr Graham Lovatt, Lt Cdr Sue Moore, Lt Cdr Chris Nelson, and Lt Cdr Roger Noyce.
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