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 Post subject: Vale Jenny BEM...
PostPosted: Mon Mar 23, 2009 10:21 pm 
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City or Town: Lake Munmorah
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The passing of a real character loved and remembered by Commonwealth sailors the world over .Jenny and her side party tidied many a Commonwealth Navy ship in Hong Kong. Vale Jenny!!

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Jenny of Jenny's Side Party - Died in Hong Kong

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JENNY Side Party BEM

Died Not known Reported by AE(OL) on 20-Mar-09

JENNY BEM
Generations of sailors who visited Hong Kong will mourn the death of Jenny. She was a much loved living legend who. for all the colony's constant change, remained the same incomparable institution for over half a century.
Much of her life was an enigma. However. the authors of her twenty-seven Certificates of Service generally agreed that she was born in a sampan in Causeway Bay in 1917. Her mother, Jenny One, according to her one surviving Certificate of Service, which was copied in 1946 from an older, much battered and largely illegible document., 'provided servicable sampans far the general use of the Royal Navy, obtained sand. and. was useful for changing money’. She brought up her two daughters to help her.
Behind her perpetual great gold-toothed grin Jenny complained; “I vcIIy chocker. All time work in sampan. N0 learn to lead or lite.” But what she lacked in education she made up more than a hundredfold with her immense and impressive experience in ship husbandry. her unfailing thoroughness and apparently inexhaustible energy. her unquestionable loyalty and integrity, her infectious enthusiasm and her innate cheerfulness.
Officially Jenny's Date of Volunteering was recorded as 1928. From then until 1997, when the colony became a Special Administrative Region of China and the Royal Navy moved out. she and her team of tireless girls. who at one time numbered nearly three dozen, unofficially served the Royal and Commonwealth Navies in Hong Kong by cleaning and painting their ships. attending their buoy jumpcrs, and, dressed in their best. waiting with grace and charm upon their guests at cocktail parties. Captains and Executive Officers would find fresh flowers in their cabins and newspapers delivered daily. And many a departing officer received a generous gift as a memento from Jenny. For all of this she steadfastly refused ever to take any payment. Instead she and her Side Party earned their keep selling soft drinks to the ships' companies and accepting any item of scrap which could be found on board.
Jenny's huge collection of photographs - too big. she said. to be put into books - she stored in a large envelope. They dated back to the mid 20th century and showed her in the ships she so faithfully served, with Buffers and Side Parties, and with grateful officers. many of whom became distinguished admirals. In two thick albums she proudly kept her letters of reference, all without exception filled with praise and affection for her. One was a commendation by the Duke of Edinburgh for her work in the Royal Yacht during her visit to Hong Kong in 1959. She has a Long Service and Good Conduct Medal presented to her in 1938 by the captain of HMS DEVONSHIRE, and a bar engraved 'HMS LEANDER 1975’.
Most treasured of all Jenny's distinctions was the British Empire Medal awarded her in the Hong Kong Civilian List of the Queen's Birthday Honours in 1980 and with which she, formally named Mrs. Ng Muk Kah, was invested by the Governor of Hong Kong, Sir Murray MacLehose.
In later years Hong Kong was no longer visited by the great fleets of battleships and cruisers which gave Jenny and her Side Party their livelihood and she found it increasingly difficult to make ends meet. Yet she stayed fit and always willing to undertake any work available. To the end of the Royal Navy's presence in Hong Kong there could be seen in the shadow of the towering Prince of Wales building within the naval base, a small round figure in traditional baggy black trousers and high-collared smock, with a long pigtail and eternal smile who, regardless of time. remained it seemed for ever – just Jenny.


Jenny died peacefully in Hong Kong on Wednesday 18th February 2009. She was 92 years old. [-o<

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Rick Pengilly
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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Wed Mar 25, 2009 9:48 pm 
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Jenny's Side Party and HMAS Parramatta's Ship's Company - Hong Kong '71

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:type: Click on the pic for a BLOW :shock: UP...!

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Rick Pengilly
WEBMASTER
Ex-CPOMTH3
R42630
13th MOBI Intake
July'62 to July'74
HMAS Nirimba - HMAS Melbourne - HMAS Cerberus - HMAS Tarangau - HMAS Lonsdale - HMAS Tarangau - HMAS Nirimba - HMAS Brisbane


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Wed Mar 25, 2009 10:19 pm 

Who's sitting on the left hand side of the scrambled eggs in the front row!!!!!!!!!!????????
You've doctored this photo Rick...haven't you!??? :twisted:


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Thu Mar 26, 2009 10:16 pm 
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Can't be you Peter, HMAS Parramatta doesn't feature in your signature block... :dontknow:

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Rick Pengilly
WEBMASTER
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R42630
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July'62 to July'74
HMAS Nirimba - HMAS Melbourne - HMAS Cerberus - HMAS Tarangau - HMAS Lonsdale - HMAS Tarangau - HMAS Nirimba - HMAS Brisbane


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Thu Mar 26, 2009 10:35 pm 

No fear..it's not me..but no Naval person was allowed to have that sort of beard...it had to be a FULL beard!!!
Come on...what's the story????


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Thu Mar 26, 2009 10:51 pm 
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It IS a FULL Beard, it's just that it's multi-couloured, a bit 'salt and pepper'...
...with a lot of salt around the chin... :bigsmurf:

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Rick Pengilly
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R42630
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July'62 to July'74
HMAS Nirimba - HMAS Melbourne - HMAS Cerberus - HMAS Tarangau - HMAS Lonsdale - HMAS Tarangau - HMAS Nirimba - HMAS Brisbane


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Thu Mar 26, 2009 11:25 pm 

Nah..not convinced..it'll be the Engineer..so I'll do some snooping and find out who was the Engineer at that time and report back in due course.

Stand by...smoke if you got 'em!!!


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Fri Mar 27, 2009 1:29 pm 
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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituar ... Jenny.html

Link to Jenny's Obit in UK

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Les Darley
Ex CERA RN (1955-76).
Ships: Crane, Palliser, Whirlwind, Undaunted, Endurance, Jaguar, Londonderry. Shore time in Chatham Barracks.
Worked in Australia at RANMEE on MK 48s, Support Craft Manager in PMSS and then FFGCLO. (1986-2000) Now retired.
my personal boast is that I had sailed on every ocean, most of the major seas and walked on all seven continents before I was 35.
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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Sat Mar 28, 2009 11:16 am 
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Thanks for that Les... As articles like that regularly get pruned from media websites I've taken the liberty of reprinting it here...

Jenny - BEM Image of 'Jenny's Side Party'...

Jenny, who has died aged 92, was a legend to generations of sailors who visited Hong Kong; despite the colony's constant change, she remained the same incomparable institution for most of her life.

Jenny led a side party of girls who attached themselves to ships when they arrived in Hong Kong, taking over the domestic economy and husbandry of each vessel. They washed and ironed, cleaned ship, chipped rust and painted, attended as buoy jumpers, and, dressed in their best, waited with grace and charm upon guests at cocktail parties.

Captains and first lieutenants would find fresh flowers in their cabins and newspapers delivered daily, and many a departing officer received a generous gift as a memento from Jenny. For all of this she refused to take payment, instead earning her keep by selling soft drinks to the ships' companies and scavenging every item of scrap and gash which could be found on board.

Much of Jenny's life was an enigma, but the authors of her many certificates of service (references) generally agreed that she was born in a sampan in Causeway Bay in 1917. According to a surviving certificate of service – copied in 1946 from an older, much battered and largely illegible document – Jenny's mother, Jenny One, "provided serviceable sampans for the general use of the Royal Navy, obtained sand, and was useful for changing money".

The younger Jenny's "date of volunteering" was recorded as 1928. From then until 1997, when the colony became a Special Administrative Region of China, she and her team of tireless girls, who at one time numbered nearly three dozen, served the Royal and Commonwealth Navies in Hong Kong.

Jenny's huge collection of photographs, stored in large envelopes, dated back to the mid-20th century and showed her in the ships she so faithfully served, often with young commanding officers who later reached flag rank. In two thick albums she proudly kept her letters of reference, all filled with praise and affection for her. One was a commendation by the Duke of Edinburgh for her work in the Royal Yacht during a visit to Hong Kong in 1959.

She had a (faux) Long Service and Good Conduct Medal presented to her in 1938 by the captain of the cruiser Devonshire, and a bar engraved "HMS Leander 1975". Most treasured was the (genuine) British Empire Medal with which she was invested in 1980 by the Governor of Hong Kong, Sir Murray MacLehose. The recommendation had formally named her as Mrs Ng Muk Kah.

Through her perpetual gold-toothed grin, Jenny complained happily: "I velly chocker. All time work in sampan. No learn to lead or lite."

What she lacked in education, however, she made up for with her experience of ship husbandry, her unfailing thoroughness and apparently inexhaustible energy, as well as her integrity, enthusiasm and cheerfulness.

Jenny's intelligence system was second to none: many a captain in Portsmouth or Plymouth would turn down her offer to become his side party in Hong Kong on the grounds that his ship was bound for the West Indies or the Mediterranean, only to find that his ship's programme had been changed.

In later years, when Hong Kong was no longer visited by the fleets of ships which gave Jenny a livelihood, she found it increasingly difficult to make ends meet. Yet she stayed fit and was always willing to undertake any work available; and to the end of the Royal Navy's presence in Hong Kong there could be seen in the naval base a small round figure in traditional baggy black trousers and high-collared, silk smock, with a long pigtail and an eternal smile.

Jenny died on February 19, 2009.

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Rick Pengilly
WEBMASTER
Ex-CPOMTH3
R42630
13th MOBI Intake
July'62 to July'74
HMAS Nirimba - HMAS Melbourne - HMAS Cerberus - HMAS Tarangau - HMAS Lonsdale - HMAS Tarangau - HMAS Nirimba - HMAS Brisbane


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Wed Jan 06, 2010 10:56 pm 
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City or Town: Lake Munmorah
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Somebody has put together a short :type: video tribute to 'Jenny'...

"A short video clip of photos of Jenny BEM and her girls (The Navy's HK support) Almost everyone in the RAN, RN, US and other Navies knew her and or knew about them. They supplied an invaluable service to the Warships berthed in Hong Kong. Jenny, unfortunately passed away several months ago but most old salts remember her well and just about every Navy orientated Website posted a memorable page to her and her girls efforts. This is just to add to that memory. "

P.S. Here's another :type: video of Naval interest from the same person, known as Voyager04

"FESR Plaque, Plynth and Board dedication ceremony at QLD Maritime Museum (HMAS Diamantina) Sunday 29th Nov 2009"

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Rick Pengilly
WEBMASTER
Ex-CPOMTH3
R42630
13th MOBI Intake
July'62 to July'74
HMAS Nirimba - HMAS Melbourne - HMAS Cerberus - HMAS Tarangau - HMAS Lonsdale - HMAS Tarangau - HMAS Nirimba - HMAS Brisbane


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