RFA bid farewell to one of their longest-serving sailors

Olna provided vital fuel for the task force, including filling up the tanks of RFA Sir Galahad shortly before the tragic events at Bluff Cove, and made frequent runs into ‘bomb alley’ where the amphibious force was clustered to re-take the Falklands. There he and his shipmates watched from very close quarters as HMS Plymouth was bombed (she survived).

Peter’s years as a cadet took him around the world in a succession of RFA vessels now long-since decommissioned: Far East, Pacific Rim, Singapore, Mediterranean and Caribbean.

From a military family – his grandfather was a motorcycle dispatch rider with the British Army in WW1, his father navigated Mosquito bombers in WW2 – Peter hails from County Londonderry; both his parents were serving in the RAF at the airbase at Ballykelly.

Almost all his time at sea was pre-2005 – 18 ships (only RFA Fort Victoria is still in service) on operations, deployments and missions as varied in location as they were in their objective. 

So among Peter’s many accomplishments: providing assistance to destroyer HMS Southampton following her collision in the Gulf with container ship Tor Bay; support to air operations over the former Yugoslavia in the Adriatic in the mid-90s; participation in the first Gulf War (1990-91) and, while serving at Northwood headquarters, planning for the second conflict with Saddam Hussein in 2003. And Peter was navigator of RFA Fort George into Beria, Mozambique, in 2000 so she could provide disaster relief after horrendous floods.

His sea time has earned him campaign medals for the Falklands, the Gulf (General Service), Gulf War 1 and NATO Former Yugoslavia Air Operations.

Since 2005, he’s served in numerous posts in the RFA’s headquarters in Portsmouth, most recently as the ‘Designated Person Ashore’ – which oversees the safe and efficient operation of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary’s flotilla.

Such is Peter’s legendary status, shipmates produced a souvenir booklet of some career highlights in tribute, packed with stories, humorous episodes, favourite pubs, but above all a lot of love and appreciation for one of the RFA’s biggest and most popular characters.

He leaves behind, friends say, “four unforgettable decades of service, stories and sheer, unfiltered character” who left his imprint on every ship he’s served in, and everyone he’s served with.

As well as the gratitude of senior staff, lead by the head of the RFA Commodore Sam Shattock, Peter received an unusual parting gift to mark his service: a framed poem composed by his training officer aboard the Olna in the Falklands.

At 61, he leaves the service he loves with a heavy heart – but also proud of all he and it have achieved since 1981.

“My career with the RFA has taken me on voyages that circumnavigated the globe, roamed the high north and deep south latitudes – a ‘blue nose’ in both the Arctic and Antarctic – and also made port calls to some less-frequently-visited places, including Aden in Yemen and Latakia in Syria,” Peter said.

“For the latter part of my career I have had the honour and privilege of being the RFA’s Designated Person Ashore, during which I have met many of the family and thus can say there are no unimportant people or roles in the RFA.

“Each and every one makes the RFA the very best at what we do and the organisation that will always be at my core. It has been an honour.”