HMS Sultan: D-Day veteran, 99, guest of honour at charity dinner in Gosport as other sailors rewarded

The ceremony took place at HMS Sultan, Gosport, in June - with funds going towards Blind Veterans UK. Personnel at the base and other guests enjoyed canapes, a performance by the Portsmouth Military Wives Choir and a four-course meal in the officer’s mess.

D-Day veteran George Chandler, who is 99 and lives in West Sussex, was the guest of honour at the dinner - accompanied by his son Paul. They presented the mess with a signed photograph which was taken from George’s boat on the morning of D-Day as it made its way to Omaha Beach.

Mr Chandler was 19 on D-Day and witnessed young American soldiers slaughtered as they attempted to land on the beach. Between the courses, the group of 80 guests also had the honour of listening to the story of D-Day veteran Alec Penstone. Alec, 99, of the Isle of Wight, was unable to attend the event but tales of his Second World War escapades, including his time on the Arctic Convoys, were shared by his friend and biographer James King.

Mr King wrote Alec’s memoirs in a book “My ten and a half Arctic convoys”. Alec was enlisted into the Royal Navy in 1943 when he was 18. During D-Day, he was aboard HMS Campania, which was responsible for anti-submarine operations against German U-boats. Prior to D-Day, Alec had been part of the Artic convoys.

He said: “During the D-Day invasion, my job was to stop any U-boats coming out of the Brest U-boat pens in France and attacking the convoy. I was 27 feet beneath the water line and couldn't actually see anything that was going on.

“One of my friends on the bridge left the telephone open for us and we could hear the noise of the battle going on. The big guns and all the planes taking off. If the invasion hadn’t taken hold, if we hadn’t managed to land our troops on the beaches there, this world would have been a different place.”

Alec lost his sight due to macular degeneration later in life. Blind Veterans UK supported him with the condition. “The help I’ve had from Blind Veterans UK is absolutely out of this world including a lovely piece of equipment that reads printed letters,” Alec said.

In Alec’s absence, James was presented with a special Blind Veterans UK silver coin. He said: “I am very proud that Alec’s contribution to the Second World War and his braveness are being recognised. He is someone who, on a number of occasions, when trouble broke out, ran towards it rather than away from it.”

Two Blind Veterans UK Founders Awards were presented at the ceremony. Bob Strickland, 86, of Fareham, was handed one of the accolades. Bob runs a regular lunch club for fellow blind veterans with the support of his wife Ann over the last 10 years. Bob was called up for National Service to the British Army at 18, training as a signaller in North Wales before moving to Aldershot where he completed the parachute selection.

He joined the 33rd Parachute Field Regiment Artillery and was dropped in Egypt during the Suez Crisis in November 1956. Mr Strickland then returned to the UK, retrained on 75mm Howitzers and was deployed to Aden. He was discharged as a Lance Bombardier in 1958. In 1994, he retired from his job as a cartographer when he lost his sight due to optic nerve damage.

“I began receiving support from Blind Veterans UK in 2004,” he added. “I don’t think I would have survived without the charity; with their support my life has been transformed. I’m especially grateful for the assistance I’ve had in learning to use equipment that helps me to maintain my independence.

“This award means everything. It is a celebration of everything I have done over the past 20 years since becoming a blind veteran and I’ve done a lot over the years. I’ve always done voluntary work, I do anything I feel I can put the effort into, it’s just natural instinct to me to want to help and support others. I am very proud to have been recognised.”