HMS Sultan military dinner

In June, blind veterans and their guests, volunteers and staff from the charity, gathered together with representatives from HMS Sultan to enjoy canapes, a performance by the Portsmouth Military Wives Choir and a four-course meal in the officer’s mess at the Navy base in Gosport.

Guest of honour at the event was D-Day veteran George and guests were also treated to the story of D-Day veteran Alec.

D-Day veteran Alec

Between courses, the group of 80 guests had the honour of listening to the story of D-Day veteran Alec. Alec, who is now 99 and lives on 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 who has written Alec’s memoirs in a book ‘My ten and a half Arctic convoys’.

Alec enlisted into the Royal Navy in 1943 at the age of 18 and during D-Day was onboard HMS Campania responsible for anti-submarine operations against German U-boats.

Prior to D-Day, Alec had been part of the Artic convoys and was surprised to learn he was to be part of the invasion fleet during the D-Day landings. He says:

“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."

Alec lost his sight due to macular degeneration later in life and recently began to receive support from our charity. He says:

“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.”

In Alec’s absence, James was presented with a special Blind Veterans UK silver coin. He says:

“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.”

D-Day veteran George

D-Day veteran George, who is 99 and lives in West Sussex, was the guest of honour at the dinner. He was accompanied by his son Paul.

During the event they presented the HMS Sultan 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. George was just 19 on D-Day and witnessed young American soldiers slaughtered as they attempted to land on the beach.

Founder's Awards

The event was not only an opportunity to honour our D-Day veterans; during the event two Blind Veterans UK Founder's Awards were presented. These awards recognise the inspiring contributions of blind veterans and their family members who share the same boundless spirit as our founder, Sir Arthur Pearson, who opened our doors to war-blinded veterans in 1915 for the very first time.

One of these awards was presented to Bob, 86 and from Fareham in Hampshire, for inspiring communities.

Bob has been running a regular lunch club for fellow blind veterans in his local area with the support of his wife Ann. For the last ten years, the couple have provided veterans with a lunch and great company. The only time the club didn’t run was during the Covid pandemic, but they were keen to get it up and running again as soon as possible.

Bob was called up for National Service to the British Army at 18 years of age. He was trained as a signaller at Rhyll in North Wales and then moved 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. After this he returned to the UK and was retrained on 75mm Howitzers and was deployed to Aden. Bob was discharged as a Lance Bombardier in 1958.

After Bob’s service he was employed as a cartographer but retired in 1994 when his sight loss meant he could no longer continue. He started to lose his sight at 57 years old which was caused by damage to his optic nerves.

Bob says:

“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.”

Thank you HMS Sultan

Our Member Engagement and Military Lead, Tim, says:

“These dinners provide a fantastic opportunity to bring our veterans together alongside staff and volunteers who work for the charity.

“It is an honour to be in the presence of our veterans and to hear them laughing, story-telling, reminiscing, catching up with old friends and creating new ones. The camaraderie and support between blind veterans is such a huge and valued part of the charity.

“I would like to say a huge thank you to the staff at HMS Sultan for their incredible hospitality. For our blind veterans to be back inside a military establishment was truly special for them, even if there were a lot of RAF veterans in the room!”

If you are a registered Blind Veteran, visit our veterans area to find out about our upcoming Military dinners and register your interest.