MEMORIES OF A NATIONAL SERVICEMAN

                                                            Gibraltar  1953/54

                                                                TREVOR SIDAWAY
                              ROYAL ELECTRICAL AND MECHANICAL ENGINEERS

                                                           

                                      Playing Trains with Prince Charles and Princess Anne

 

                                Scale model of Gibraltar with 70 ft of track running around and through it.
                                               Presented to Prince Charles (aged 6) in May 1954

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


           

 

 

 

 

 

 

       Designed by me with a little help from my friends


As a "qualified" engineer, with all of six months Drawing Office experience, I was in charge of the

REME Drawing Office
It was a large office, with two draughtsmen, and a technical library, and I spent more than three months

 on the design and manufacture of the model in the early part of 1954
 
The model was presented to Prince Charles (aged six), by the people of Gibraltar, to commemorate his

visit there in May of that year.
Together with Princess Anne (aged three), they made their first overseas trip in the Royal Yacht

 Britannia to meet up with the Queen and Prince Phillip at the end of their six months tour of the Colonies
I met up with the Royal party, in the Admirals office in the Dockyard, and after a 30 min demonstration

spent the following three hours teaching Charles and Anne how to "crash" the trains
Measuring more than 4.5m x 2m with almost 20m of track, the scale model was designed, built and

commissioned by the REME in the spring of 1954
It was shipped back to the UK on board an Aircraft Carrier was installed in the School Room at

Buckingham palace for a number of years and currently stored at Windsor castle in a controlled

Atmosphere

 

    Close up of "Main Street" Station with a passenger train at the platform and goods train at the siding
               A second station, a "Halt" is on the opposite side of the Rock at Catalan Bay

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


The model was designed and built in the REME Garrison Workshops and put on public demonstration in

the town before being installed in the Admiral’s office, in the Naval dockyard, to await the arrival of the

 Royal party

                                                             Chief Draughtsman, aged 22

                                                                  On my drawing board

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


                           Pictured in my officewith a view overlooking the Mediterranean

 

                                               The REME HQ Office Block at Monkey’s Cave

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


                           The corner of my office and its balcony can be seen on the second floor
 
The offices fronted a large factory, built into caverns and caves and everything that was made, repaired

or calibrated was their responsibility, from military watches to the 9.2" Coastal Gun sited on the top of

the1400 ft peak.
The REME provided a full design and manufacturing facility for the very large Military Garrison and

the model was built in the REME factory in the spring of 1954


                                                      The REME HQ pictured in 2005
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was originally built as a Hospital mainly for soldiers for the Royal Canadian Engineers who constructed

            many tunnels during WW2, including the tunnel in the picture, known as Arrow Street

 

                      The Commemorative plaque is still in place on the REME Office block

                                                                                                                                                                      Pictures by George Staples

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


              

                                                         #     Better than the Bahamas   #
 
                     #     More about the models   #         #   "Resting" in Tangiers--at the EL Farhar   #
                          

                                                    #    Football in Gibraltar (Part one)    #

 

                                                    #    Football in Gibraltar (Part two)    #
                                                                                                                                                 

                                                                     #    Keeping the Laundry going and other Sports    #

 

                                                                                  #    Home   #


                 email me   trevor_sidaway@hotmail.com                              Link to "Black Country Stories"