20 NAVY NEWS, JULY 2007
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● And another thing, young
Lightly-smoked maple-
man... Henry Allingham shares
glazed salmon, creamed
his secret of longevity with
avocado, hot potted
Royal Marines Drum Major
crayfish, saffron
James Whitham in Victory
scallop, apple salsa
Arena during 111th-birthday
celebrations.
★★ ★
★ ★
As is worthy of his status as
Lamb variations – (deep breath), Britain’s oldest
garlic-infused cannon, sailor, Britain’s oldest naval
breast with black aviator, Britain’s oldest man,
pudding and ar
tichoke,
Europe’s oldest man and the
crumbed sweetbread, oldest living survivor of the
dauphinoise potato, Great War, Mr Allingham was
girolles with broad treated to an unforgettable
beans,
party in Portsmouth.
carrot purée, lamb jus Henry, who lives in a St
Dunstan’s home for blind ex-★
★ ★ ★
★
Servicemen near Brighton,
Chocolate mousse,
is celebrated by the Fleet
shor
tbread with
Air Arm and RAF; he is the
raspberries, pistachio last reminder of the FAA’s
and plum cake, vanilla
y
precursor, the Royal Naval
ice cream, raspberr
Air Service, and a founder
espuma
member of the Royal Air
Force.
And so it was that the RN
Historic Flight and present-
Silver service
day RAF jets flew over
HMS Victory, watched by
Mr Allingham, Second Sea
from RN chefs
Lord Vice Admiral Adrian
Johns and Veterans’ Minister
Derek Twigg, who joined the
centenarian for dinner in the
AN RN-led culinary team
Great Cabin.
returned from the US with four
Ten of Henry’s relatives,
silver medals after competing with
including eight grandchildren
the world’s top chefs.
and great-grandchildren
The Combined Services
from the USA, were also on
Culinary Arts Team represented
hand to help the 111-year-old
Great Britain at the National
celebrate, as were scores of
Restaurant Association’s Culinary
Portsmouth schoolchildren.
Classic in Chicago – billed as the
As for being 111, with
top contest for chefs in the USA.
typical humour, Henry says:
The British squad had minimal
“It’s just the same as it was at
practice – two week-long training
any age – I’m pleased to be
sessions together as a team
seeing another tomorrow. I’m
– before heading for the Windy
happy to be alive.”
City to compete against 11 other
Picture: LA(Phot) Alex Cave
national sides.
Royal Marine WO1 ‘Monty’
Montgomery managed the team,
whose 12 chefs included PO John
Potts and C/Sgt Si Atkinson.
They were required to produce
a complex cold buffet and an
imaginative three-course meal for
Land of soap and glory
Honours for
Vince and Ian
80 diners.
The last time the Combined
PILOT Lt Ian Brannighan and
Services appeared in Chicago
observer Lt Vince Owen begin
four years ago they did well, but
THE words ‘submariner’ and ‘luxury
are shifting upwards of 500 bars of the
their respective front-line careers
not as well as in 2007 – a success
which comes on the back of
living’ do not ordinarily sit side-by-
jade soap, Nephria, every month (that’s
with the Fleet Air Arm with
the team’s second place in the
side.
around £9,000 turnover).
trophies to their names.
So what is the secret of eternal
military strand of the Culinary
But deep Lt Cdr Andy Mills is hoping to clean
The two 815 NAS officers
youth?
World Cup in Luxembourg in
up (Groan – Ed) at the top end of the market
were named winners of the
Well, apparently, it’s all down to a
November.
with a bar of soap.
Admiral Sir Dudley Pound
bloke from Korea and his market stall.
Convention chairman William
Not any old bar of soap, mind you, but one
Prize as best students on their
Anton said judges had been
made from jade (the mineral, not the disgraced
The couple were holidaying in
respective courses.
dazzled by the contestants’
reality TV star).
the Far East last summer when they
Lt Brannighan was a keen
innovation, presentation and, not
Actually, it’s not even soap. It’s a ‘beauty bar’.
stumbled across a market in the South sportsman at university,
least, culinary prowess.
And it will cost you the princely sum of £17.99
Korean capital Seoul. captaining Newcastle University’s
(compared with, say, 50p for a bar of Imperial
Charlotte spied a trader selling beauty ice hockey team at the British
In the footsteps
Leather...).
bars, got chatting and hey presto, a few University Championships.
But the Northerner (pictured, right, holding
months later she’d quit her job in insurance In his relatively short time in
the jade bar) is convinced that where there’s
to sell the jade bars to an international the RN he has spent six months
of heroes
brass there’s muck, and is leaving the RN to
market, persuading Andy to give up his in New Zealand as operations
sell the bar full-time with his fiancée Charlotte
life in the RN to run the distribution officer of the RNZN Support
Newbert.
company. Flight (based near Auckland),
A COMBINED Royal Naval
Andy has appeared in these pages on a few
Which isn’t necessarily a
and managed to find time to
Reserve team spent three days
occasions, normally connected with his work at
bad thing as the officer has
learn to drive the two-man
marching through Flanders in the
the SETT in Gosport, or in the sports section
spent much of the past
bobsleigh.
footsteps of the fallen.
for his prowess at tennis and the Cresta Run.
year travelling, trying to
Lt Owen joined the general
Sailors from HMS Calliope
But the submarine weapons engineer officer
persuade the world to buy
service back in 2000 and served
(Gateshead), Wildfire
concedes that after 26 years in the Senior
the upmarket soap and
as navigator of HMS Inverness
(Northwood) and President
Service, leaving the Royal Navy to sell posh
squeezing the product
and Leeds Castle before
(London) joined teams from the
soap, sorry beauty bar, is a bit of a challenge.
into national newspapers
switching to the FAA as an
TA, Deutsches Heer and Belgian
“Until recently I was training submariners and magazines such as
observer, initially with 702 NAS
Army, plus civilian walking clubs
in escape procedures and now I spend my day lads’ gadget mag Stuff.
and now with 815.
on the Ypres 100km march.
generating marketing and advertising plans, And we’ve managed
The officers earned their wings
The three-day walk/march
preparing for beauty trade fairs and planning TV to get through the
in December. Lt Brannighan now
takes participants around the
and radio campaigns,” he adds. entire story without
serves with 815’s Operational
historic cloth town and the
But who will pay £17.99 for a bar of soap? calling Andy a
Readiness Unit; his colleague has
Flanders terrain which British,
Quite a lot of people, it seems; the couple soaperstar...
joined HMS Manchester’s Flight.
Belgian and German troops
fought over desperately in the
Great War.
... and for Simon
As well as marching around
D-Day legend relives fateful days
Flanders, the RNR team laid
WORK by day and night by
a wreath at the Belgian War SIXTY-THREE years to the day after he aptly-named Round Trip – and get it back to
PO(C) Simon Hall earned
Memorial and took part in the dropped troops into Normandy, American Merryfield. His efforts on June 6 1944 earned
him a ‘citizen of honour’ title
daily sunset ceremony at the former pilot Col Lloyd Neblett returned to him the DFC.
at Fareham’s mayor-making
Menin Gate in Ypres, where more his old airfi eld as a guest of honour. Six decades later, the retired US Air Force
ceremony.
than 50,000 Commonwealth Back in 1944, Col Neblett (pictured right by offi cer was presented
The Collingwood-based
soldiers are commemorated. LA(Phot) Billy Bunting) was a pilot of a DC with photographs
senior rating provides key
Dakota, flying two missions over Normandy of Merryfi eld as
communications and information
Carmen karma
on D-Day from his base at Merryfield – it is now, while
systems instruction to rookie
satellite airfield of RNAS Yeovilton, and still the RAF staged
sailors fresh out of basic training
used today by the Fleet Air Arm. a fl ypast with a
at HMS Raleigh – a job which
THE efforts of PO Peter
And as he carried men of America’s 501st C17 transport
requires more than mere
Whittaker aboard the Black Duke
Parachute Infantry Regiment into battle that aircraft.
teaching, but nurturing their
earned him the Carmen’s RN
fateful day, a bundle of kit dropped from
talent and helping trainees in
Award for his skill as a logistician.
another Dakota above his aircraft landed on
their burgeoning Royal Navy
The award was founded last
his wing.
careers.
year by the Worshipful Company
The then Capt Neblett struggled to keep
Outside work, Simon can be
of Carmen to recognise the most
his Dakota from stalling as the paratroopers
found regularly volunteering his
outstanding non-commissioned
jumped, before he lost the battle and
services (and those of many of
logistics specialist across the RN,
the aircraft dropped to just 600ft,
his shipmates) helping out at
RM and RFA.
whereupon it was raked with flak.
Porchester Community Centre
Peter, who’s now serving at
The German guns blasted eight
and St Vincent’s College nursery
Devonport, earned the rare
feet off his right wing and shot
school in Gosport.
distinction of a ‘very good’
away three feet of his aileron, but
Not content with that, he
assessment from FOST staff as
somehow the airman managed to
organises visits by trainees to
HMS Monmouth went through
regain control of the aircraft – the
pre-schools for Service personnel
operational seal training. families in the Portsmouth area.
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