NAVY NEWS, AUGUST 2007 29
LETTERS to the editor should letters, we cannot publish all of your
always be accompanied by the correspondence in Navy News.
correspondent’s name and We look particularly for corre-
address, not necessarily for spondence which stimulates
publication. debate, makes us laugh or raises
E-mail correspondents are important issues.
also requested to provide Please try to keep your
this information. submissions as brief as
Letters cannot be possible – our space is
submitted over the limited.
telephone. The editor reserves
Given the impres- the right to edit your
sive volume of submissions.
● A Gannet Search and Rescue Sea King, photographed by the CO of the unit
Gannet holds her own
I WAS disappointed to read the caption (July, page pool and some of those have 771’s livery painted on
41) beneath WO1 Ian Arthur’s photo of a Search and them.
Rescue Sea King. It implied that this was an aircraft These cannot easily be removed before being
from 771 Naval Air Squadron. dispatched for use at Prestwick. For the spotters
In fact since the decommissioning of 819 Squadron amongst your readers, the small saltire painted on the
in December 2001 the Sea Kings based at Prestwick nose of the aircraft is an easy way to identify one of
have never been attached to 771 NAS. Gannet’s helicopters.
As Commanding Officer I am in the unique posi- Now that I have educated all the Navy News read-
tion of having three naval aircraft in my charge with- ers all that remains for me is to convince the national
out any squadron number or affiliation. media that not all helicopter rescues are the work of
Although HMS Gannet is parented for some the RAF and that some (in fact historically nearly 25
aspects by RNAS Culdrose, Gannet SAR Flight per cent) are conducted by the Royal Navy.
(GSF) is an independent unit and has no connection As I write this, Gannet SAR has been the busiest
with 771 NAS whatsoever. UK SAR unit in the country so far this year, having
Occasionally one may see Prestwick-based aircraft conducted 171 rescues.
sporting 771 ‘Ace of Clubs’ logo but this is only due – Lt Cdr Roger Stringer, Commanding Officer,
to the fact that RN SAR helicopters come from a Gannet SAR,
Pensioners be aware
NAVAL pensioners abroad be- Paymaster changed the provider charge it was decided not to
ware, the spin doctors at Westmin- of their overseas payments to write directly to the 11,000 affect-
ster have decided to reward your Citigroup. ed members around the world,
former diligence by deducting Until then, all overseas bank but inform them via their annual
handling charges from your pen-
payments incurred a charge of newsletter.
sion, effective from April 2007,
£2.25 which was deducted at All Armed Forces pensioners
without prior notice.
source and had been at this rate living abroad have the option to
Your paying authority, when
for at least five years. Following have their pension paid electroni-
contacted, will inform you the
a review, Xafinity Paymaster cally into a local overseas bank
amount they share with Citibank
decided to increase the charge to account, paid by UK sterling
to perform this hitherto free serv-
£2.60, an increase of 35 pence. cheque or into their UK bank
ice. I will be checking on the legal-
The MOD believes that this rep- account.
ity of this.
resents a very modest increase It is only those who choose to
– Michael ‘Spike’ Sullivan,
after five years without change have their pension paid into their
Manilla, Australia
and remains good value. overseas account that incur the
Veterans who live in certain administrative charge – all other
Tim Taylor, from the Service
countries where information was methods are free.
Personnel and Veterans’Agency,
required by Xafinity Paymaster I hope this reassures all our
told Navy News: “All Armed before the crucial date were pensioners that the MOD con-
Forces pensions are paid on informed by a personal letter of tinues to work hard with its sup-
behalf of the MOD by Xafinity this change. However, in the light pliers to minimise the cost of
Paymaster. In January Xafinity of the very small increase in the pension administration.”
0028-029_NN_Aug07.indd 228-029_NN_Aug07.indd 2 220/7/07 10:31:410/7/07 10:31:41
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