NAVY NEWS, JULY 2010


19


Afghan tale inspires Deep ride


SUBMARINER Jason Floyd and his friend Richard Ambrose had always wanted to do a marathon motorbike ride. But it was only after listening to Jason’s brother talking about his experiences in Afghanistan that their dream developed a serious purpose. Petty Officer Jason, an


instructor at the RN Submarine School in HMS Raleigh, learned all about his brother’s experiences when Philip, a captain in the Royal Military Police, returned home. Jason explained: “Philip recently returned from Afghanistan where his regiment lost three men. “Taking part in a bike ride from Land’s End to John O’Groats is something I’ve always wanted to do and I realised that while we fulfilled our dream, we would also do our bit to raise money for a very worthy cause.’ Jason, 39, left his home in


Eggbuckland, near Plymouth, at the end of May with Richard and Richard’s son, Matthew, 12, who rode pillion on the six-day 1,788 mile ride. The first leg saw the team head to Land’s End and back to Plymouth. After a night’s rest at home, the bikers spent Saturday travelling to Dumfries and then made their way to Loch Ness, before heading south with stopovers at Dalwhinnie and the Lake District. Jason said after the ride: “The roads were fantastic and everywhere we stopped, people gave us money when they saw what we were raising funds for.” He added: “We were saddlesore at the end but it was definitely worth it.”


All the money raised will go to Help for Heroes. Please go to www.bmycharity.com/ landsendtojohnogroats2010 to donate.


Memories of Mac


CHRIS Macbean was a helicopter pilot who served for more than 20 years, rose to Lieutenant Commander and became senior pilot at 771 Squadron in Culdrose, where he flew hundreds of Search and Rescue sorties. When he left the Navy, Chris joined Devon and Cornwall Constabulary as a Crime Scene Technician, where he became one of the team’s mainstays and most popular men. “Anyone who knew Chris Macbean will tell you he was one of life’s true gentlemen and one of the most helpful and understanding people you could ever meet,” said colleague Chris Halliday. Chris Macbean died of cancer


in May 2009 and two of his colleagues in the police, Chris Halliday and Rob Wintle, were setting off, as Navy News went to press, to cycle from HMS Victory, in Portsmouth, along the south coast to the constabulary’s headquarters in Exeter, to raise money for the charity Hospiscare. “We wanted to do something


positive in Chris’ memory so our challenge as two ordinary, unfit, ageing blokes is to cycle the 150- mile route in less than 24 hours,” explained Chris. To donate, or for further


information, go to www. cycleforchrismac.co.uk


We will endure L of a challenge for T45 team


GYM for Heroes is running its first endurance campaign from July 24 to 30 in support of Help for Heroes.


The campaign is a nationwide challenge held in fitness centres and gyms. Many military gyms have already joined in. To take part and register


your own gym or fitness centre, military or civilian, visit the website: www.gymforheroes.


NOT content to rest on their laurels after completing the Collingwood assault course last year, members of the Type 45 Destroyer Charity Team travelled north to make this year’s fund-raising event even more of a challenge. The eight-strong team (pictured


Dave Moss, and the Navy contingent Cdr Steve Lynn, Lt


above): Vicky Barr, Mark Burley, Ian Hindmarsh,


Cdr Dave Mackie and WO1 Barry Stafford, plus their support crew, Paul Maynard, travelled to the Lake District to undertake a three- stage challenge in a single day. The team rowed the entire 10.5-mile length of the lake from Fellfoot, the southernmost part, to Waterhead


in the north, then Steve Hiscox,


trekked from the shore to Langdale and on to the base of England’s loftiest peak – Scafell Pike.


They subsequently climbed 3,209 feet to its summit, before descending for some well-deserved rest, recuperation and substantial quantities of pub-grub.


The aim of the Lakes Longest and Loftiest – the L3 Challenge – was to raise funds for the Solent Multiple Sclerosis Therapy Centre, a charity in Portsmouth. Go to www.justgiving.com/ L3-Challenge to donate.


Triumph for the fliers


EVERY self-respecting biker has a dream at some point in his or her life to ride the length and breadth of the UK.


‘Frog’ Spencer, from 800 Naval Air Squadron, who was turning his dream into reality as Navy News went to press. Phil hatched his idea after the


That’s the view of CPO Phil


bikers’ magazine Ride visited RAF Cottesmore, home of the Naval Strike Wing, to take pictures of men and machines. After talking to Ride about his


dream, an idea started to take shape in Phil’s mind – why not cover the UK with a ‘point-to- point’ ride, instead of the usual north-south route? And so the Point-to-Point


l The Help for Heroes cyclists on the Big Battlefield Bike Ride


Charity Motorcycle Ride was born, designed to cover the significant points of the compass by visiting UK military establishments of all three services from RAF Lossiemouth in the north to Portsmouth in the south. Triumph Motorcycles generously agreed to lend four bikes for the ride, and Nissan GB supplied two support vehicles, with other companies chipping in to help the fund-raising effort for Help for Heroes. The nine riders were due to leave RAF Cottesmore on the


Bay crossing for cyclists


l Left to right: CPO Phil ‘Frog’ Spencer, CPO Tony Fisher, PO Paul Fitzjohn, PO Dave Robson, LAET Craig Gilbert, LAET Stephen Church, LAET Wayne Drake, AET Dom Fraser-Shaw, AET Mark Franklin


first leg of their journey in the middle of June, aiming to visit Colchester Garrison, Woolwich Barracks, the Royal Gurkha Rifles in Folkestone, HMS Sultan, RNAS Culdrose, RAF Valley, BAE Warton, RAF Lossiemouth, RM Condor, Catterick Garrison and back to RAF Cottesmore in


time for the traditional Naval ‘tea and stickies.’


at two of the biggest beneficiaries for Help for Heroes – Selly Oak Hospital and Headley Court. To donate, go to www. helpforheroes-pointtopoint. webs.com


Rich whistles down the wind


BY the time this edition of Navy News hits the streets, Lt Cdr Rich Wild (pictured in training right) might have crossed northern England from the Irish Sea to the North Sea in pursuit of a plate of fish and chips – or might not. It all depended on the prevailing


wind, for ideally Rich, Logistics Officer of HMS Ambush, was hoping for a good tailwind before pedalling off on his 175-mile bike ride from Walney Island, near Barrow, to Whitby in Yorkshire. Rich, whose boat HMS Ambush


is currently under construction in BAE’s shipyard in Barrow, was going to extreme lengths to raise money for charity and get his supper.


l A landing craft comes ashore from RFA Largs Bay for the Help for Heroes cyclists


Walney to Whitby in one day, aiming to get there in time for a portion of the fish and chips for which the Yorkshire town is renowned. (Also for its links with Dracula, but the Count apparently was not such a magnet...) Rich’s route would be very challenging, rising initially through the southern Lake District then turning over the Pennines and crossing the North York Moors before descending into Whitby. The route reaches a maximum height above sea level of more than 1,728ft but Rich reckoned the astounding scenery along the


His plan was to cycle from


No chance for feet to freeze in Arctic


way should be enough to motivate him – along with the promise of supper, of course.


date in July, and was hoping to make a decision based on the weather forecast – ideally a strong tailwind would help things along, but otherwise he was going to settle for warm and dry weather.


Rich did not choose a specific


The charities Rich is raising money for are Help for Heroes and the Prince and Princess of Wales Hospice in Glasgow. He has set up online donation pages at: www.justgiving.com/ richard-wild-h4h-w2w


www.justgiving.com/rich-wilds- walney2wear-ppwh and is hoping to raise £1,000.


and


COUSINS Kirk Boyle and Wayne Middleton travelled to the land of the midnight sun to take part in an arctic marathon.


wait too long before seeking help.


Kirk, a lieutenant commander in the RNR, and Wayne, a Lt Cdr in the RN, chose the charity Combat Stress, the Ex-Services Mental Welfare Society, because between them they have served numerous operational tours in Northern Ireland, Bosnia, Kosovo and both Gulf Wars, and seen the huge increase in demand for its services. Kirk said: “Many veterans


“In particular, the realisation that more veterans from the Falklands have subsequently committed suicide than were killed in the conflict made us realise how much this charity is needed.”


northern Norway the day before the marathon, which was held around midnight in the middle of June, when it was still broad daylight in the Arctic Circle. To donate go to www. justgiving.com/arcticmarathon


Tough tally at Tal-y-bont


AFTER the success of last year’s inaugural Beacons Challenge, staff at the Outdoor Leadership Training Centre Tal-y-bont, a part of Powerful Squadron RNLA, Britannia Royal Naval College Dartmouth, set about planning the 2010 event under the leadership of PO Mark Reynolds. The format was the same as the previous event – a gruelling three-discipline adventure race set over two days in the heart of the Brecon Beacons, with a mountain navigational exercise, a mountain bike trail and an open canoe course.


Six teams took up the challenge, two from BRNC and one each from HMS Kent, HMS Edinburgh, Portsmouth Area and DES Ensleigh. The overall winners were Officer Cadets of BRNC 1.


More than £850 was raised for the RNRMC. This event has proved to be a resounding success in its second year and will continue to grow with strength year on year, so if you are up for a challenge and think your team has got what it takes, contact rnla-oltc-staff@ btconnect.com


The cousins flew out to They also hoped to make stops


MORE than 300 Help for Heroes cyclists returned home from an emotional bike ride across northern France,


remembered WW2 veterans. During their journey the


riders visited some of the most poignant memorials and towns of World Wars 1 and 2, including St Valery en Caux, where two of the cyclists laid the first wreaths to pay tribute to the soldiers at the Commonwealth War Grave Commission,


where a private wreath-laying took place.


Last year’s bike ride went where they and Fromelles, Pictures: Sgt Ian Forsyth RLC


on to raise £800,000 for H4H initiatives including Deptherapy, a rehabilitation diving scheme, and the £20 million appeal to build a series of Personnel Recovery Centres across the UK. This year the organisers hoped to raise £1 million to continue these and other projects. At the end of the route, the riders joined many veterans to pay tribute to those evacuated and killed at Dunkirk in 1940.


After a beach memorial and


town parade, the riders spent the night on RFA Largs Bay before returning to Dover.


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