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Thank you David; much appreciated. I find this very interesting.

It does seem to be an affectionate term for the naval brigade in Natal:
Treves in his 'Tale of a field hospital' writes about climbing Naval Gun Hill: ...at last the summit of the naval hill was reached, and here were the "handy men" and their big gun.'

Hi Rob,

Indeed you are right and the term was still being used amongst sailors in the early nineties when I joined up. Being ex-Navy the 'Handy man'' image has always interested me and I would like to see if I can discover the identity of the man who posed for the cigarette card photograph; it might not be possible, but I'll try. I approached the Naval Historical Branch in HM Naval Base Portsmouth, seeking records from HMS Powerful, but they had nothing. Someone somewhere must know the answer.