THERE is a corner of a foreign field that is forever, er, Gloucester. HMS Gloucester to be precise.

In the hills above the Sierra Leone capital Freetown, sailors from the Type 42 destroyer got to grips with making life a little better for the 3,000 inhabitants of their namesake village.

The men and women of the Fighting G were shocked by the state of the village, and especially its school, when they visited during the destroyer’s tour of duty as South Atlantic patrol ship.

Lt James Law said lack of money and material, rather than skills and willingness, hampered most of the efforts by locals to improve their lot.

“ We were told that the school house, which catered for more than 500 children, had not been painted or had any maintenance carried out for more than 50 years,” he explained.

“ Our initial visit upheld all that had been said. All the buildings were in a terrible state of repair. The shutters in the classrooms were riddled with bullet holes and the gloom of both rooms was attributed to walls and ceilings littered with holes and patches of damp.”

Enter the Fighting G’s ‘hit squad’: 20 sailors armed with tools, paint, expertise, and assisted by at least 50 villagers to revamp the school.

In a day, every broken or rotten piece of furniture had been replaced. “Spending the day at the workshop was a unique experience,” Lt Law added. “Few Westerners get to work side-by-side with people from one of the poorest countries in the world.

“ We discovered very quickly that skill of hand and innovation was abundant, but the lack of money to buy materials and the most basic tools were the biggest stumbling blocks and were keeping the country as a whole from realizing a huge potential.”

The second day of work was devoted to the school building itself, while ship’s surgeon Lt Alex Shearman provided medical care for villagers – aided by eagle-eyed chef LCH Paul Price.

“ Paul noticed that one of the children had several flies on and around a rag on his foot. After gaining his confidence, the makeshift bandage was removed to reveal a hole which went almost entirely through his foot,” said Lt Law.

“ Paul cleaned it thoroughly and re-dressed the wound, which was badly infected. In a country with one of highest levels of HIV it is highly likely that an injury which would have been easily dealt with in the UK may well have been fatal.”

By the end of day two, four freshly – and brightly – painted school buildings stood in Gloucester, revamped inside and out. And the villagers had trounced the sailors 6-2 on the makeshift football pitch.

Not surprisingly, the visit to Gloucester proved a humbling experience, and left the Fighting G crew wishing they could do more: the school still lacks books, pencils, clothes, tools, “simple things which are taken for granted in the UK”.

Lt Law added: “We knew that the scale of what had been achieved, though our arrival had been the catalyst, had been driven by the locals. There was no shortage of skill, will or determination in Gloucester, nor was there a shortage of happiness or fun despite the hardship and poverty.”

The destroyer has subsequently departed Freetown to plough across the Atlantic to Rio de Janeiro where she was due to spend Christmas.

Link to HMS Gloucester's website