LT Cdr MICHAEL JAMES HILL ROYAL NAVY (Rtd LIST)                                   

Mike was born in the small seaport town of Poole, Dorset, England in January 1937. He joined the Royal Navy, in 1954 keeping a promise he made to his mother who had died just days before his 15th birthday. During the next 30 years he visited most places in the world, serving on a variety of ships from frigates to aircraft carriers and achieving promotion through the ranks from Junior Stores Assistant to Lieutenant Commander. Highlights of his distinguished career were witnessing the Hydrogen bomb tests in the Pacific, four years service to Queen Elizabeth II on the Royal Yacht Britannia, service in the Far East being awarded the General Service Medal Malaysia and North Borneo, serving with HRH The Prince of Wales while Captain’s Secretary on HMS Hermes and finally as Supply Officer of Naval Party 2010 embarked in MVS Stena Inspector for the Falklands War. He retired from the Elizabethan Navy in 1983 and entered the Tudor Navy when he joined the Mary Rose Trust as an Accountant. He retired in 1994 but was persuaded to return to work launching the Royal Armouries Museum of Artillery in 1995. Since 1997 he has been leading an active retirement, researching his family history, cultivating his garden and allotment, travelling with his wife Iris and talking about his interests and experiences to anyone prepared to listen.

 

 

TOPICS:

 

Life Below Decks in the Royal Yacht Britannia

 

The Mary Rose – Discovery, Recovery and Conservation

 

The Treasures of the Mary Rose – A Tudor Time Capsule

 

Why Did the Mary Rose Sink?

 

Footpaths to your Family History, Getting started

 

 Footpaths to your Family History – Brickwalls, Naval & Military Records, Using the Internet.

 

Eye Witness -The British Thermo-nuclear Tests at Christmas Island

 

A Hard Days work – 21st October 1805. The Battle of Trafalgar

 

The Falklands War – A Personal Experience 

 

Sweet Peas – The Queen of the summer flowers

 

Life in a Blue Suit or Tales from the Scuttlebutt - Mike recalls some of the events that he was involved with during his thirty years of service both ashore and afloat