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Carrier caterers cream of crop
Pictures: LA(Phot) Will Haigh, RNPOTY
Accolade for RPO REGULATING Petty Officer Graham Gregory has received the Mayor of Fareham’s Award for his work in the local community. The award was presented to Graham, 39, by Cllr Mike Ford at the Mayor of Fareham’s Inauguration Ceremony held at the Ferneham Hall. Graham gave his personal time to visit a number of nurseries within the local community to raise road-safety awareness and to allow the children to interact with personnel working within the Services. He led the team who used police vehicles and sirens, fingerprinting and practical demonstrations to raise awareness of the children to safe road crossing. Drawing on his experience with the Hampshire Roads Policing Unit, Graham compiled interactive packs of information designed to help identify some of the dangers that they may come across on the roads, which the children could complete. Graham regularly instructs sailing to children, young adults and cadets at weekends and an annual week long camp. “I was very humbled and surprised to receive such recognition,” he said. “Being given the opportunity to contribute to the safety and education of children and young adults in the community is a huge honour for me and is something that I aim to continue in the future and try to help as many people as I can.”
Accolade for Donna A CHIEF Petty Officer Physical Training Instructor serving at RNAS Culdrose has been highly commended for her work in training future Royal Navy PTIs. CPO PTI Donna Chapman attended a ceremony at HMS Collingwood where Flag Officer Sea Training Rear Admiral John Clink presented her with a FOST Commendation. Donna served at the Royal Navy School of Physical Training (RNSPT) at HMS Temeraire in Portsmouth, where she was the first ever female No1 instructor in the RNSPT’s 127-year history. As the Petty Officer in charge she was responsible for putting students through their paces on the gruelling six-month course. “I had my heart set on this role ever since I became a Navy PTI in 2008,” said Donna. “Becoming No1 instructor is often considered the pinnacle role as a PO within the PT branch. It was hard work but extremely rewarding.” 34 : AUGUST 2016
SOME of the best chefs and stewards in the Royal Navy competed to establish who was the crème de la crème of the Naval catering world. The cook-and-serve contest was the brainchild of Cdr D J Turner of HM Naval Base Clyde’s Waterfront Logistics Support Group. Four teams consisting of two chefs and a steward were given 80 minutes and a budget of £20 to prepare, cook and serve a threecourse meal for two with wine and coffee. Assessing the teams were a panel of judges looking at creativity, workmanship, presentation and hospitality skills. Best of class winners were the team from HMS Queen Elizabeth, the Royal Navy’s new aircraft carrier. Leading Chef Chris Mason, Chef Aaron Blunt and Std Martin Millar cooked a starter of asparagus and pancetta salad served with a crispy hen’s egg and Hollandaise sauce,
pictured below. For main the team served a pork fillet roulade stuffed with nut farce wrapped in Parma ham, and to top it off dessert was raspberry crème patisserie and diced apple crumble served with balsamic macerated raspberries. LC Mason said: “The team thoroughly enjoyed the day. We learned a lot as a team and individually about cooking under pressure. It wasn’t easy working under the watchful eye of the judges.” The other teams competing were drawn from the submarine, mine hunting and Royal Marine communities across the region. Event coordinator CPO John Boyle said: “Hopefully cook and serve will become an annual event open to all Scottish-based units in the future.” A team representing Scotland will now be selected to compete in Exercise Joint Caterer at Shrivenham in October.
Ron buzzing about time with Hornets
AN Air Engineer who served at RNAS Culdrose more than 68 years ago retraced his footsteps on a nostalgic visit to the Cornish base.
Air Electrician Ron Dennis joined Culdrose in 1949 and worked for much of his time on 809 NAS, who at the time was flying the Sea Hornet NF21, a specially-adapted aircraft developed for night flying. The squadron was unique in being the only Sea Hornet front-line squadron and its eight aircraft were named after Snow White and the seven dwarfs. “Generally she had a fairly good maintenance record, they were good aircraft to work on, despite having to wire-lock most of the panels before flying,” said Ron. “It was busy at Culdrose then, with many aircraft flying all day and night, everywhere you looked the sky was full of planes.” Ron also remembers how new the air station was in 1949. Culdrose commissioned less than two years before he joined and not everything went smoothly. “One of our Sea Hornets had started up, but the brakes failed and it careered off towards another squadron. “Their hangar doors finally stopped it, but it wasn’t a pretty sight.” Showing Ron and his wife Maureen around their 736 NAS Hawk jet were Senior Pilot Lt Cdr Nick Mattock and Lt Matt Palmer, who listened attentively to Ron’s recollections from the early days at Culdrose. “I never thought I’d be standing back on this patch of concrete again. “We’ve holidayed in Cornwall many times since I was based here and it’s great to come back, especially as this is the same hangar and dispersal where I’d worked on those 809 Sea Hornets back in the early 1950s.” After Culdrose, Ron and his family moved to RNAS Hal Far in Malta, where he worked on the aircraft that supported the Royal Navy’s fleet of large aircraft carriers in the Mediterranean. However, Ron has special memories of his days at RNAS Culdrose. “The air station has changed a lot since I was last here, but the lay-out and the hangars are familiar.
l CPO Sharkey Ward with his grandson Lewis Buckley
Welcome to the best family in the world
l Ron Dennis is shown the cockpit of a Hawk by Lt Matt Palmer
l Ron in his RN uniform in the 1950s; Right: Sea Hornets from 809 NAS; Below right: Ron and Maureen with Lt Cdr Nick Mattock and Lt Matt Palmer “Some things that don’t change though are the views; they are still as wonderful as I remember looking out towards the sea and across the Cornish countryside.” 809 NAS, whose motto is simply ‘Immortal’, is to be reformed to operate the fifthgeneration stealth aircraft the Lightning II F35-B that will fly from the Royal Navy’s Queen Elizabeth-class carriers from 2018.
Pictures:PO(Phot) Paul A’Barrow
A ROYAL Navy CPO is as proud as Punch that his grandson has followed in his footsteps and signed up for a career in the Senior Service. CPO Alan ‘Sharkey’ Ward joined the RN in July 1977 and is currently serving at Phoenix Damage Control School in Portsmouth. His 17-year-old grandson, Engineering Technician Lewis Buckley, has completed his basic training at HMS Raleigh and is now learning his trade as a marine engineer at HMS Sultan. CPO Ward said: “I’m absolutely proud as Punch that Lewis has joined up. He’s now become part of the biggest and best family in the world. I’ve been keeping my eye on him from a distance. I’d never want to interfere with his career.” Approaching 40 years’ service, CPO Ward believes he is the longest serving member of the marine engineering branch, having served in 14 ships including HMS Herald during the Falklands campaign in 1982. “I told Lewis when you get to Sultan, the base for engineering training, I’ll know 95 per cent of the people serving there and the other five per cent will know me. Before he joined I told him to get fit and to be a marine engineering technician and nothing else. I’d ultimately like to see him serving on minesweepers because I think it’ll make him a better engineer.” Lewis, a former pupil of Solway Community Technology College in Cumbria, said: “I knew the Royal Navy would be a good career but speaking to my grandad I was shown how much the Navy could do for you and that it was a job I wanted to do.” www.navynews.co.uk