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By land , air and sea a tribute to Frank Allen
Teaching son Phil to dive
FRANK ALLEN ALWAYS SAID THAT IN another life he would come back as a fish , or a bird . He never could quite decide which he loved most - soaring in the clouds or sinking gently beneath the waves . Both passions stemmed from his childhood years spent in post-war Guernsey ; he was born in 1945 shortly after the Nazi occupation ended , when islanders were struggling to restart their lives .
Aged about ten , while on the beach with a group of chums , he found a pair of discarded goggles . Taking his first snatched glimpse beneath the waves , Frank became immediately fascinated by this new watery world . Unable to afford even a snorkel , he demonstrated his ingenuity by adapting a stick of bamboo .
Later , having been given the BSAC Diving Manual and learned the theory by heart , Frank decided to join the Royal Marines . In early 1963 , he left his beloved Channel Islands , reported for initial training at Deal , before being posted to Aden . At that point he had never dived , nor did he hold a single diving qualification . Carefully watching his unsuspecting RM Sergeant ‘ buddy , he pretended he knew what he was doing as he prepared his set and did the ‘ buddy ’ checks . That first dive lasted 15 minutes , taking Frank to a depth of 20 feet using a Normalair full face mask twin set .
Thereafter , Frank dived whenever he could , spending summer leave periods back in Guernsey with his young family . Unable to afford his own aqualung and with no car , he hired equipment and relied on the local bus service to transport him to new dive spots . By adapting a golfing trolley , he trundled his set to all corners of the island , discovering places not visited as a child . In 1970 he finally purchased his first aqualung , made possible by spending his entire summer leave picking tomatoes in the once famous Guernsey vineries / greenhouses . Son Philip was soon being encouraged to drop below the waves and his daughter , Claire , also proved herself to be a real water baby .
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