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NAVY NEWS, NOVEMBER 1998
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HONK IF YOU'RE EX-RN ROYAL NAVY veterans living in Canada have found a novel way to remember their days in the Senior Service. Since their Government allowed citizens to choose their own six-figure car licence plates, former ranks and rates having been proving a popular choice. Wendy Frail from Ontario sent us this picture of her Mum, ex-Leading Wren Joy Jones, with her plate LOG WRN, and says that her step father's 'number' was RN RETD. Other examples she has spotted, such as EXWREN, PO WREN and STO.MEC, have led to much horn honking! Did you serve with LW Joy Jones 1948-53? See Calling Old Shipmates P24.
Internet Doctor is in line for awards A
DOCTOR from the Royal Hospital Haslar who harnessed internet technology to help treat Servicemen abroad has won a national award.
Surgeon Cdr Peter Buxton has won a medal in the British Computer Society Awards for his Telemedicine system which connects Haslar to military doctors and paramedics as far away as the Falklands and Bosnia (Navy News, June 1998). The Telemedicine Unit at Haslar has also been shortlisted for a £5,000 prize for Team of the Year' in the Innovations section of the annual Hospital Doctor awards which will be announced in London later this month. The award would also put Cdr Buxton in the running for the magazine's Hospital Doctor of
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• AWARD WINNER: Surgeon Cdr Peter Buxton at work in the Telemedicine Unit of the Royal Hospital, Haslar.
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the Year award. Telemedicine allows medics in the field to use a digital camera and an ordinary personal computer to send pictures and detailed patient information back to specialists in Britain. The whole system costs less than £2,000 to set up, and is not limited to military use. The hospital has had many enquiries and has been asked tor advice by the National Health Service on setting up links between small local and larger central NHS Hospitals. Telemedicine recently featured on the BBC's Tomorrow's World with Cdr Buxton demonstrating the system from HMS Invincible.
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TEVEN Spielberg's World War II blockbuster Saving Private Ryan capitalised on the skills of many serving and retired Naval personnel.
More than 20 former Royal Marines landing craft coxswains from RM Poole were hired to drive the American vessels used in the opening D-Day scenes. The Royal Marines landed the jobs after ex-Sgt Major Ken Murgatroyd discovered, almost by accident, that a special effects company was on the lookout for amphibious experts to help recreate the Normandy landings off the coast of Ireland's County Wexford.' The Royals ensured a perfectly co-ordinated beach assault which showed the carnage of an opposed landing so graphically that the scenes have been described as 'the most powerful 27 minutes in cinema history.' Saving Private Ryan also gave HMS Newcastle's PO Mark Plater his second appearance on the silver screen. After working as an extra in the Bond movie Tomorrow Never Dies during filming at HMS Dryad, Mark was invited to audition for the part of a German NCO in Saving Private Ryan. He was picked from over 600 for the job and spent three weeks on the set of a devastated Normandy village, actually in Hatfield.
One of the things which struck him most about the film was the amazing lengths which the film-makers went to ensure realism. He said: "I played the part of an infantry sergeant in a scene where US paratroopers were grenading a tank and stand-ins were needed for the real actors. "They packed plastic explosives into a huge funnel filled with garden peat and cement dust to make the explosions look as though the ground was being blown up. "It was all very realistic. They used amputees in the film, sticking on missing limbs and filming them being blown off again. "For the sound effects, and I'm not sure I should be saying this, they shot real animal carcasses to make sure that the sound of bullets hitting bodies was right. "And they used agencies to find the people they required -there are agencies for just about everything, ugly people, burns victims, amputees, anything!" The film crew were so impressed with Mark's work that they tried to persuade him to stay on the set for another two weeks. Although he had no more leave to spare he is still on the film agency's books and is considering a fulltime career in the industry when he leaves the service. Q The papers that saved Private Ryan - P22
URGENT
WE can guarantee you a place in The 1999 Flora London Marathon. YOU can help us continue the work that we do throughout the UK for people with MS! We haven't asked The Royal Navy before so if your sea legs can cope with just over 26 miles on land and your fundraising can cope with raising goodly sums of money you could lead the way for a great long term relationship with an important national service. _ PLEASE SEND YOUR NAME, ADDRESS AND TELEPHONE NUMBER TO THE ADDRESS SHOWN OR CALL US FOR INFORMATION ABOUT THE WORK WE DO AND THE SUPPORT WE CAN GIVE TO YOUR FUNDRAISING EFFORTS We can give full support to any of your fundraising efforts, not just the London Marathon and we need your support
Storms force climber to wait NAVY DIVER Eamon Pullen has suffered a major setback in his bid for a new world climbing record. The 30-year-old from HMS Endurance had just two more peaks to conquer to become the first person to climb the highest mountains all 47 European countries. But after problems with altitude sickness and five days of horrendous weather on the 5,200m Mount Shkara in Georgia, he was forced to turn back just 300m from the top. Eampn has now set sail for Antarctica in HMS Endurance and the record will have to wait until next spring when the ship returns and the weather has broken. In the meantime, a rival for the record, climber Rob Bader, is believed to be having problems of his own in the former Yugoslavia. The Project Manager for Eamon's record attempt, Peter Harding, said: "To attempt Shkara again before Spring would be suicide. "The weather has closed in now, and as Eamon's first duty is to the Navy, he is sailing with HMS Endurance. "But I know he is looking forward some diving and parachuting in Antarctica and hopes to arrange some climbing in the Falklands." Asked if Eamon's resolve was any less certain after his experiences in Georgia, Mr Harding said: "Eamon is a very determined person. When he gets back, just you try stopping him!" j Companies interested In supporting Eamon's record attempt on Mt Shkara and Turkey's Mt Ararat next year and publishers interested his remarkable life story should contact Mr Harding o0121 3785656.
NANNY OF THE YEAR A ROYAL Navy reservist from Portsmouth has been voted Nanny of the Year by The Lady magazine. Karen Richardson (29) was awarded the title and a £1,000, prize after being nominated by Terry and Helen Connelly from West Sussex. Her quick-thinking helped to save the life of their daughter Olivia when she stopped breathing during an asthma attack earlier this year.
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• LENDING A HAND: HMS Newcastle's PO Mark Plater on the set of a bombed out French village used in Saving Private Ryan
• HMS King Alfred's Karen Richardson