I've found the notes I made about the chap who became involved in the Bismark, so let me start at the beginning. The dorsetshire heavy cruiser was on her way from her station in China to a refit in Devonport, when she called in at Cape Town. She was short of 15 gunnery ratings and Vernon Brill transferred from the South African Navy to the Royal Navy as a rating. His first 'adventure' was climbing the mast to the lookout position in a kind of barrel half way up the mast. To get up there, he had to climb up the mast on metal rungs till he reached the crosstrees - a wooden boom held horizontal by wire stays. Once up he had to grab a stay and hang on while the chap he was relieving told him anything of interest, then climbed out of the barrel and allowed Vernon to climb in. It wasn't much better when you got in, Vernon told me.
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