Cieran

Cieran has a great interest in maintaining and improving our shores. He is keen on rock-pools and the creatures living in them. We had an interesting discussion on our waste water management. We had never met before but I enjoyed chatting with him.

Extra

The first Royal Marine to be awarded his wings was Lt Eugene Gerrard on 2nd May 1911. We are very proud that the Royal Marines were aviators before the RAF was formed on 1st April 1918. Many followed Lt Gerrard, Officers and Senior Non-Commissioned Officers. Through the years Royal Marines have flown in every conflict from World War I to the Second Gulf War to Afghanistan and beyond.

At the 100th Anniversary celebration a bunch of former SNCO pilots had their group photo taken. Medals were to be worn, some bothered, some of us didn’t. Characters abound or should that be bounders abound? To get it over with, I’m front right. You will notice, perhaps, that our shoes were gleaming. The white haired man centre front, Greg Forrest, departed this mortal coil a couple of months ago, due to Covid. The man second right, rear rank, Derek Blevins, parted company with Earth several years ago, one of the kindest funniest men I knew. 

Left front, John Gilbert, Left Rear L/R Tug Wilson, Jim Chappelle, to whom I owe an enormous debt of gratitude for taking a young man under his wing, on the right is John Frost. It would be difficult to collect a funnier group of men. Derek Blevins was a Geordie. His Sioux helicopter (Think the aircraft used in MASH) fell off a Jebel in the Yemen during the 60s. As he crouched under the wreckage an Engineer Office asked, “Can I help?” Derek replied, “I don’t suppose you’ve got a screwdriver?” Humour in the face of adversity.

Jim and I shared a cabin during the 1977 tour of Belfast as the flight attached to 45 Commando RM; we maintained a great relationship aided by the cocktail cabinet we acquired and stocked. Occasionally we would fly 5 minutes down the road to Musgrave Park, collect a few friends and bring them back for cocktails. The next day they returned to duty, refreshed and grinning. Any fool can be uncomfortable.