Ron Laidlaw: Peter Walton - Bomb Disposal
Thu, Jul 12th 2018 at 7:00 pm- Thu, Jul 19th 2018 - 9:00 pm
Weekly meeting with guest speaker
Last week's meeting of the Rotary Club on
Thursday was saddened to hear of the passing of one of their newest members,
Tommy Stevenson, who died suddenly and unexpectedly the previous day in the
Borders General Hospital. Tommy, a widower, had lost his wife Margaret 2
or 3 years ago and very recently lost their only child Lorraine.The
condolences of the members at the shock news was expressed by President Mairhi
Trickett.
Three guests attended the meeting, namely
Simon Moore, husband of Jane Cox-Moore, and John Thorburn's sons John and Dr
George. They heard an excellent and informative illustrated talk by Peter
Walton, a Past President of Berwick Rotary Club who was introduced by Ron Laidlaw.
Peter, a retired Chief Technician with 30 years RAF service who had seen active
service in both Gulf Wars as well as in N. Ireland, Belize, Iraq and elsewhere
in the world where Britain had an interest. His specialist knowledge and
service was in bomb disposal and he concentrated on the area known as Goswick
Sands, Northumberland between Holy Island Causeway and Scremerston. During
the last war this area was highlighted as the likeliest area of attack by the
German Forces from their bases in Norway so it was highly defended. It was
also used as a practice bombing range by the RAF flying out of Millfield Airfield
near Wooler in Typhoons and resulted in a plethora of ordnance buried in the
beaches, much of it unexploded. Through time this found its way to the
surface and Peter and his team were called into action to deal with it. A
fair number of the bombs were 500 pounders and were as deadly as when they were
made 75 years ago. When they detonated them in situ he had to shut down
the main East Coast rail line and the A1 road. Members were astonished to
learn this as this part of the Northumbria coast is a popular haunt of Borderers
to visit, walk, play golf and picnic!
A most interesting presentation
passed too quickly, followed by questions, after which President Mairhi gave the
vote of thanks.
'What We Do' Main Pages:
Hawick Rotary Club has been able to obtain funding for the restoration of the village's Polysport facility after it was inundated by floodwater
moreSome info on the entertaining activities we get up to!
moreThis Committee focuses on international aid and projects
moreA summary of Hawick Rotary's work with the community during 2020, despite the problems of Coronavirus and Lockdowns
moreOur Vocational & Community Committee concentrates on supporting local community groups and on youth activities, often in collaboration with Hawick High School and with Primary Schools in the town.
moreEnquiries regarding membership are always welcomed and should be e-mailed to secretary@hawickrotary.com
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