The Trusty Servant May 2016 No.121 | Page 19

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