NO.121
PJH Hodges (I, 51-56) relates that his
father Geoff Hodges (B, 22-27; Co Ro,
29-68) published a memoir of his wartime
experiences, Of Mines and Men, in 1993,
detailing a wide variety of episodes of his
service in Abdiel class minelayers.
He informs us that Arthur Nicholson’s
Very Special Ships (Seaforth Publishing;
ISBN: 978-848322356) is the first fulllength book about the six Abdiel-class
fast minelayers, the fastest and most
versatile ships to serve in the Royal Navy
in the Second World War. They operated
not only as offensive minelayers dashing
into enemy waters under cover of
darkness but in many other roles, most
famously as blockade runners to Malta. In
lieu of mines, they transported items as
diverse as ammunition, condensed milk,
gold and VIPs. To
give the fullest
picture of this
important class of
ships, the book
details the
operational careers
of the ships in the
war, when they
played vital roles in the battle of Crete
and the siege of Malta, plied the
hazardous route to Tobruk, and laid mines
off the Italian coast. The author tells the
story of these ships through first-hand
accounts, official sources and specially –
commissioned drawings and photographs;
a fair proportion of the details on HMS
Abdiel and HMS Apollo came from
Geoff Hodges’s book.
Business and Commercial
SCM Chapman (A, 01-06) recently
founded EnConnection, a Tokyo-based
brand localisation and licensing
consultancy, bringing western brands to
Japan and vice versa, with particular focus
on restaurants. If any OW
entrepreneurs/restaurateurs have any
interest in entering the Japanese market
or getting a licence to operate a Japanese
brand outside of Japan, he’d be very happy
to hear from them. They also provide a
T H E T R U S T Y S E RVA N T
wide range of consulting/support services
for those dealing with Japanese partners
or customers in any industry. See
enconnection.co.jp. (Since he’s also the
head of the Japan Guild, he’d be happy to
hear from/help out any OWs visiting
Japan either for business or pleasure. See
OW reunion below.)
Anyone planning a
trip to Honolulu or
perhaps a stop on
the way to Asia
should consider
visiting MB
Dunkerley (C, 7781) CEO of
Hawaiian Airlines.
Read an interview
from The New York Times at:
http://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/02/14/jobs/
mark-dunkerley-where-you-can-seeairplanes-and-the-aloha-spirit.html.
Honours
Both PdeF Delaforce
(B, 37-42) and the
late MJL Stow
(D, 34-39) joined the
elite club of OWs
who have recently
received the Légion
d’honneur for taking
part in operations in
north-west Europe,
1944-45.
Tripartite Medical Dinner,
24th October, 2015.
The Old Wykehamist Medical Society
hosted another of their occasional dinners
with colleagues from Eton and Harrow.
These were started some years ago in
order to support those at school intending
to study medicine and subsequently
during their early clinical training. 70
doctors and their partners attended.
Prof John Stein was in the Chair and the
guest speaker was Baroness Greenfield,
whose rousing talk on whether digital
technology is affecting our brains was
received with great interest. Prof the Lord
Terrington (the urologist, Christopher
Woodhouse) was confirmed as the new
President of the Society.
If you are a medically qualified Old
Wykehamist or a medical student and are
not yet a member, please let them know
by email: [email protected].
Sport
Fives
WA Ellison (C, 00-05) has just won the
National Singles title for the second year
in a row.
Patrick Delaforce
Law
MR Dixon (A, 82-87) has started his own
legal practice, MD Law, on 1st May, 2015,
in Sheffield, specialising in Insolvency
and Commercial Litigation. See
www.mdlaw.co.uk.
He also started his role as Chairman of
the Players & Fixtures sub-committee at
the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) on
1st October, 2015, and next season will be
his tenth season as captain of Sheffield
Collegiate Cricket Club 1st XI, the club
which has been the club for Michael
Vaughan, Joe Root and Richard
Kettleborough.
19
Medical
Rowing
C J H (Scott (K, 69-73), rowing for
Norwich Rowing Club, became a World
Masters Champion in a quadruple scull in
the age categories Masters D and E, as
well as in a double scull in the Masters E
category, at the World Masters Regatta at
Hazewinkel in Belgium in September
2015. To qualify for Masters E, the
average age of the crew must be between
55 and 59 and for Masters D the average
age must be between 50 and 54. The quad
was