'Dit On' is a podcast run by The Royal Naval Association (RNA) for members, associates and the wider Royal Navy family. Guests will include veterans from various Naval operations, currently serving Naval personnel, family members of Naval personnel, and the odd celebrity. Our host, Jenna Brodie, is a naval veteran with 12 years of service under her belt. She now works for Barclay's, after leaving the Navy in 2018. This podcast will enable naval veterans to stay connected with the Royal Navy, their peers and their successors despite the physical restrictions and isolation of Covid-19. For both the older Naval generation (who are accustomed to listening to the radio) and the younger Naval generation (who listen to audio/podcasts most frequently and are often isolated at sea), we hope this podcast will bring comforting and informative stories from multiple generations with a common interest (life in the Royal Navy) into their homes.
This week Jenna is joined by Dr Jane Harrold, a historian and lecturer in strategic studies at Britannia Royal Naval College in Dartmouth. She takes Jenna on a whistle-stop tour of the history and historic dits from BRNC, from the very foundations of the college in the 1800s all the way to present day.*Note, this episode was recorded before the sad passing of HRH The Duke of Edinburgh
This week we welcome Jonty Powis, the navigator of HMS Conqueror during the Falklands War, who talks us through the days before, during and after the sinking of the Belgrano in the South Atlantic. A Royal Navy veteran with 32 years of service, much of which was spent on submarines, Jonty left the Navy in 2006 as a Commander. 39 years on from the conflict, his account reflects upon the emotional toll of being on submarine patrol, knowing this patrol would take you into active combat, and the various ways people responded to such circumstances.
Jenna Brodie sits down with her old oppo, Lee Maddin, a fellow Royal Navy veteran. Jenna and Lee met as they joined their first ever ship together in 2006, HMS Somerset, and embarked on their exciting careers together. In this episode, they reminisce about those early days...
In this episode, Jenna Brodie talks to Jane Lancaster - one of the first women to go to sea in the Royal Navy. Jane was part of the Women's Royal Naval Service, better known as the Wrens, joining the senior service in 1989 aged 18. Jane joined HMS Brilliant on a Sunday evening - the first Royal Navy ship to carry women as part of its ships company. She talks about her experience joining the ship, the reception from the male crew members and the sadness of being taken sick at one of the most pivotal times in her early career.With a draft to HMS Brilliant short-lived, she was lucky enough to join HMS Invincible, and within her first three years in the service she had visited America, the Mediterranean, Norway and the Far East - half way round the world.
If there is one thing our General Secretary loves more than anything else, it's spinning dits, and here he's been given a platform to do just that! Tune into this week's episode to hear all about Captain Bill Oliphant's time in the Navy, from his numerous drafts, to a sticky situation in Naples (which you won't want to miss), to the end of his 37 years of service.Unsurprisingly (to those who know him), he talked so much that we've had to split his interview into two parts. Part two inbound soon...
This week, Jenna Brodie talks to her mates Kerry and Julian Lee, a veteran couple with a combined 46 years of service in the Royal Navy. They discuss everything from the highlights and lowlights of their Naval careers, the challenges of a relationship when you're both in the military, the realities of leaving the Armed Forces for a career on civvie-street, and being locked down under the same roof after you've spent years apart.
This is a short episode to introduce our podcast host, Jenna Brodie, and her occasional co-host, Jim (her Dad!). Jenna is a Royal Navy veteran, with 12 years of RN service under her belt. She joined the Navy in 2006, aged 19, as an OMC, before transferring to the Logistics branchHer career took her through the ranks and around the world, including the Middle East, the Far East and the Mediterranean. Her most 'real' time in the Navy was on board HMS Enterprise during the migrant crisis, where she was part of a Ships Company who rescued over 9,000 migrants from the sea, over 18 months. She left the Navy in 2018 and is now enjoying a successful second career with Barclay's and is an active member of the Barclay's Military Network.