Posted by Martin Honor on February 12, 2013 at 12:45:41 user MartinH.
Something that occurred to me recently is did John join the navy and if so, when? Normally potential officers joined at age 13 as Cadets and spent 4 years at Dartmouth before spending a couple of years in the fleet as Midshipmen. If John joined via this scheme he would probably have started in the September after Swallowdale (for some reason I think his birthday is in July but I can’t find a reference). However, WH refers to health certificates from school.
There is no reference to him as a Cadet in WDMTGS, SW, or PP so perhaps we can deduce that he became a “Special Entry” Cadet. These joined Dartmouth for 6 months after leaving public school at 18, I assume after passing Higher School Certificate. They then spent time on a training cruiser before joining the fleet.
With his enthusiasm for joining the navy I find it strange that John would wait until he was 18, or perhaps his parents counselled caution until he was sure he knew what future career he wanted.
Any thoughts?