Hi Rich & the chaps
I am new on this forum of yours and have an interest in the good old QE2.
As a youth, in 1982, I served with the 12AD Royal Artillery Rapier Battery, so have a link to the Falklands 1982 job.
Today, I am a collector of medals, mainly Lincolnshire Regiment of WW1, but have gained another theme.
SAMs/SAM groups to all Naval, RFA, Civilian, Army, RAF, RM etc. in fact all that served during the FI conflict.
Today, I have the honour of adding a QE2 crew member SAM to my collection.
I was wondering if any of the people who served at that time have any knowledge of a chap who served as an engineer on board.
His name was J (James, I think!?) Wheat. I think he may well have been an aged member of the crew as I think he was born in Cheshire, in 1929. Sadly, now deceased, so I am told.
My quest is to build up a picture of the man, with details of his life, possibly anecdotes, photographs, and details of his service with the QE2 and other ships that he has links to.
Any help would be most gratefully received.
From the point of view of a landlubber and foot soldier, when we saw the QE2, the first time I saw her she was off West Africa (I think getting kit/stores loaded up. I maybe wrong!) then later on around Ascension, she gave us a tremendous boost in morale. With many of us being young 18-20 year olds on our way to......well, not sure what! Not that it was low or anything.......but the reassurance of having a big friendly ship with us was something else.
Jonno