Gilbert Hallam / ’44 Call of the sea THROUGHOUT his 83 years, Gilbert Hallam has battled submarines, orchestrated the rebuilding of a fleet of local vessels, and offered his home up to a stranger from denmark—and that’s just for starters. But Gilbert’s beginnings were the same as thousands of others who commenced boyhood life at Saltus Grammar School. Educated initially at a prep school in England, Gilbert moved to Bermuda with his Bermudian mother after his father, who was British, died when Gilbert was only 10 years old. He enrolled at Saltus, where school life was very different to today. “Schooling was not easy, with shortages of books and equipment, and very different from the highly sophisticated learning aids of today,” Gilbert notes. “Even examinations presented problems, as we had to use carbon paper when writing our School Certificate exams in case the original copies were sunk on the way to England for marking!” After the Second World War was declared in 1939, Gilbert recounts meeting many servicemen, including those in the Royal Navy, who used to dish out “treats” in the form of candy and chocolate—hard-to-obtain delicacies at the time. By 1944, he had passed the School Certificate and part of the Higher School Certificate exams, became head of darrell House at Saltus, and subsequently Head Prefect (now Head Boy). When it came time to decide what he was to do with the rest of his life, he says he was “gently reminded” by his soon-to-be brother-in-law that there was “still a war on” and that he should sit the Navy entrance exams. He trained at the Royal Naval College, dartmouth, and shortly after completion of his training, he was sent to the Far East in a troopship to join HMS Howe. After the war, Gilbert returned to the Royal Naval College, Greenwich, London for the Junior Officer’s War Course. On completion, he was promoted to Sub-Lieutenant and appointed to the Torpedo and Anti-Submarine School, HMS Vernon, in Portsmouth. He also attended the Naval Training Establishment in Chatham and was selected for service aboard the Royal Yacht Britannia. This, he says, was an unforgettable experience, as it included taking Princess Margaret and Lord Snowden to the West Indies for their honeymoon. during his time in the Navy, Gilbert travelled 42 all over the world—from Egypt to Hong Kong, Australia to Scandinavia. In 1977, after almost three decades at sea, he returned to Bermuda as director of Marine & Ports Services. “Shortly after I took over, there were two major groundings on the northern reefs and I wondered what I had let myself in for,” he jokes. “But the next nine years in the department turned out to be one of the most enjoyable and rewarding appointments I could have wished for.” He saw the establishment of the VTS (Vessel Traffic System), which helped ships avoid collisions and groundings. His favourite project at Marine & Ports was the rebuilding of the fleet, such as ferries, pilot boats and tugs, which he describes as “falling apart” when he first started the job. While at Marine & Ports, he served as the Sea Cadets’ president for six years; in the 1980s, he was president of the Royal Naval Officers Association for three years. A member of Bermuda Rotary for 12 years, he opened up his home for three months last year to a 17-year-old danish exchange student at Saltus, Thomas Houden Hanson. “He was an excellent and very bright and delightful personality,” says Gilbert, a widower with two children and three grandchildren. “He achieved the Headmaster’s honour list at Saltus, qualified in ocean diving and participated in crew of Spirit of Bermuda. I found his stay a wonderful experience.” —Helen Jardine Looking back on a lifetime of busy maritime service S A LT U S M A G A Z I N E CHARLES ANDERSON