Biggles of 266
1st Level Red Feather
- Joined
- Apr 26, 2001
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Makes you proud to be a descendant of those considered too low for British polite society!
Revealed: Navy's ire over sailors' taste for well-dressed lady boys
Britain's navy was so alarmed by anecdotal evidence of hundreds of its sailors visiting male prostitutes during far-flung voyages in the 1960s that it launched a full investigation.
Sailors sought the services of male prostitutes and "lady boys" in Singapore and Bermuda during tours of duty, but the navy concluded it could do little to stamp out such practices.
A previously secret naval document from 1969, released by Britain's Public Record Office for the first time on Wednesday, describes how sailors would hit the town in Singapore as soon as their ship docked.
"Not infrequently this ends up with them sleeping with male prostitutes ... who dress up very convincingly as females," it reads.
Another document, written by the navy's medical director-general in 1969, describes these prostitutes as "very beautiful".
"They dress well and smell delicious," he wrote. "They perfect the female walk, stance and mannerisms, and some even undergo surgery to complete the illusion.
"Quite a high percentage of intelligent men could be fooled even when sober."
British sailors were also living it up in Bermuda.
One document says a local man regularly invited visiting sailors to his flat, "giving them presents for partaking in grossly indecent acts and posing for sexually perverted photographs".
It said that more than 400 sailors were involved.
"Almost every single one interviewed stated that he would not like his exploits to be known to near and dear ones," the document said, adding that it considered all of those involved vulnerable to blackmail.
The reports from Singapore and Bermuda reached the highest ranks of the navy, leading the then commander-in-chief of the Western Fleet, Admiral Sir John Bush, to acknowledge he had a problem on his hands.
"There is, regrettably, ample evidence that homosexual practices are rife in the fleet," he said in a letter in November 1969.
But despite exhaustive studies, the navy seemed incapable of finding a solution to the problem.
"In all this I have virtually no concrete recommendations to make," the admiral wrote, adding that all he could suggest was "constant and persistent education".
A memorandum published by the Ministry of Defence sums up the air of exasperation among British officials.
"Apart from discouraging homosexual practices on the messdeck and elsewhere, what can a leading hand [sailor of higher rank] do about it?" it asks.
I thought it was a fine old limey tradition?
Revealed: Navy's ire over sailors' taste for well-dressed lady boys
Britain's navy was so alarmed by anecdotal evidence of hundreds of its sailors visiting male prostitutes during far-flung voyages in the 1960s that it launched a full investigation.
Sailors sought the services of male prostitutes and "lady boys" in Singapore and Bermuda during tours of duty, but the navy concluded it could do little to stamp out such practices.
A previously secret naval document from 1969, released by Britain's Public Record Office for the first time on Wednesday, describes how sailors would hit the town in Singapore as soon as their ship docked.
"Not infrequently this ends up with them sleeping with male prostitutes ... who dress up very convincingly as females," it reads.
Another document, written by the navy's medical director-general in 1969, describes these prostitutes as "very beautiful".
"They dress well and smell delicious," he wrote. "They perfect the female walk, stance and mannerisms, and some even undergo surgery to complete the illusion.
"Quite a high percentage of intelligent men could be fooled even when sober."
British sailors were also living it up in Bermuda.
One document says a local man regularly invited visiting sailors to his flat, "giving them presents for partaking in grossly indecent acts and posing for sexually perverted photographs".
It said that more than 400 sailors were involved.
"Almost every single one interviewed stated that he would not like his exploits to be known to near and dear ones," the document said, adding that it considered all of those involved vulnerable to blackmail.
The reports from Singapore and Bermuda reached the highest ranks of the navy, leading the then commander-in-chief of the Western Fleet, Admiral Sir John Bush, to acknowledge he had a problem on his hands.
"There is, regrettably, ample evidence that homosexual practices are rife in the fleet," he said in a letter in November 1969.
But despite exhaustive studies, the navy seemed incapable of finding a solution to the problem.
"In all this I have virtually no concrete recommendations to make," the admiral wrote, adding that all he could suggest was "constant and persistent education".
A memorandum published by the Ministry of Defence sums up the air of exasperation among British officials.
"Apart from discouraging homosexual practices on the messdeck and elsewhere, what can a leading hand [sailor of higher rank] do about it?" it asks.
I thought it was a fine old limey tradition?
