New recruit joins grandfather in love of the sea
They both went to the same primary school and share a love of the sea.
However, more than 70 years separate 19-year-old navy recruit Josef Power and his veteran Merchant Navy grandfather Alan Lipscombe, from Onehunga.
Mr Lipscombe, 91, came to Devonport Naval Base with his daughter and son-in-law to see Ordinary Electronic Technician (OET) Power march with his 2017 intake to the recent Sunday church service at the base’s chapel.
It is the first time families are allowed to see navy recruits since they started training, five weeks into an 18-week programme to qualify as sailors in the Royal New Zealand Navy.
Hugs and tears are typical as the families and recruits greet each other outside St Christopher’s Chapel, and it was especially so for OET Power, who credits his grandfather as an inspiration for joining the navy.
“It feels really good to have him here. I was really hoping he would make it.”
Mr Lipscombe, who lives now at Lady Elizabeth Home and Hospital in Takanini, was thrilled his grandson had joined the navy.
“I’m very happy to see him carry on. He’s shown an interest in boats up to now with Sea Scouts, so it’s a logical progression.”
The navy was a good career option for youngsters, he said.
“People who went through naval training were well grounded.”
Mr Lipscombe joined the Merchant Navy in 1946, after a five-year apprenticeship in engineering.
He had wanted to join the Royal New Zealand Navy during the Second World War but his father, who had served in the First World War, refused to give permission for his young sons to go to war. The Merchant Navy was an acceptable compromise.
“I wanted to have an experience of sea life and I was pleased to get away — there were not many opportunities for New Zealand boys back then.”
OET Power studied New Zealand Defence Force pamphlets while in the careers room at Mt Roskill Grammar School.
“The more and more I looked into it, it seemed like a great opportunity, something I could really get into,” he said. “But it was also my granddad being in the Merchant Navy. He went to Onehunga Primary, like me. He was also an engineer, and I’m interested in electronics.”
A highlight of the training for OET Power so far has been the comradeship, with 90 other recruits pushing and encouraging each other.
Before joining, OET Power said he used to do things in his own time.
“Now it’s a new level of discipline and order. Now it’s got to be done when they say it has to be done. It’s been a really big change.”
