Please, please, please, does anyone have any information on research into a garlic allergic. Carol suffers with it, and we are both so careful about vetting products for any trace of garlic. Lidl’s, for example, are particularly good for selling products with a very limited ingredients list. I have tried writing to all the major stores, but I think my mail just simply got binned because they did not regard it as a problem. There is apparently no legal requirement on manufacturers to mention garlic among their products ingredients.

There is no indicator to the number of people who may suffer with this allergy – although we have met a few. I admit that I am not at home researching the net, but so far I have failed to find any worthwhile research. All the indicators point to a variety of reactions to the allicin released when garlic is crushed. But there the trail ends. There are even sites (e.g. Dr Weil MD) who seem to imply that people imagine that they are suffering with a garlic allergy.

Well, whatever got passed our rigorous checks last night – and I am still waiting for an answer from Tesco on their particular product – Carol vomited and was very ill (no need for details) throughout yesterday evening & most of this morning. Believe me, this was not imagined.

Had a peculiar one today while on Coastwatch down at Worms Head. The weather was pretty rough, blowing gale force 7 and 8 at times. Approximately 12 to 15 foot waves, and sudden squalls, often with hail. A helicopter suddenly appeared below us on the southern side of The Worm at about thirty feet about the sea, disappeared behind The Worm, but didn’t reappear from the other side. Given that the spray over The Worm was well over 150 feet, we were concerned, and did an emergency call to the Coastguard. Air Traffic Control had no notification of a helicopter in the area, so our concerns were heightened that it might have ditched into the sea. It eventually transpired that it was an Electricity Board helicopter, which must have used The Worm as a waypoint, and turned directly west from us, thus being obscured by The Worm’s Head. We spotted him on his way back forty minutes later – again flying very low above a stormy sea. I’m still not sure if he found any pylons out at sea though???

As most of the limited viewers of this site will know, we have decided to downsize. Our house is now on the market ( http://www.homesandproperty.co.uk/sale/wales/swansea/clydach/5-bedroom-detached-house-sale/16895-4849684.html ) – maybe not a good time of the year, but fortunately we are not in any great hurry to move. However, we have been looking around to see what the market has to offer. One of the main difficulties is that we have been spoiled by the supreme build quality of Clews Homes. Alan Clews won the Best Small Development in Great Britain Award for Golwg Y Lon, and I am not surprised having lived in this house for a couple of years now. But it does mean that properties we are looking at by comparison look decidedly poor. Here are a couple of shots of one of the more interesting options. It looks good in the photos – not so good in reality. I urgently need to win the lottery and get Alan Clews to build us sometime special!

Just thought that I’d add a couple of images that saddened me. I attended the Armistice Parade in Cardiff on the 11th November. It was sad that there were so few public present – though in some ways not entirely surprising given the rising disquiet with the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Although I have always been a pacifist, and hate the whole idea of war, I still feel strongly that we should not readily forget those whose lives were, and are being lost.

As a slight aside -two recent banners I came across were memorable though…

“If you can read this, thank a teacher. If it’s in English, thank a soldier”

And the other…

“War is a way of teaching Americans geography!”

Anyway, this old soldiers eyes caught my attention. So filled with sadness. He knows the reality of war.

And perhaps even sadder, the young faces of future recruits…

I must get around to cleaning some of these photographs up one day, although the stains carry their own history. My father is among this group. I haven’t had any success yet finding out any more about 759 Spitfire Maintenance. I was surprised to find that HMS Heron is, or was, the shore base in Yeovilton. I have vague memories as a child being taken there to visit a wartime friend of my Dad’s (a Johnny Whitehouse if my memory is right. How did I come up with that name !?). I can only presume this is where he trained as an Airframe Mechanic. My father was a carpenter by trade, so presumably his role was actually making and repairing much of the wooden frames on the aircraft.

Any information would be appreciated

759 Spitfire Maintenance HMS Heron

John J Kavanagh

I’ve been trying to piece together some of my late father’s experiences from old photographs – not an easy task, as he rarely spoke about his wartime experiences as he found it too painful (he lost a good many friends). He certainly served on HMS Nabob, which I think was one of the so called “Liberty Ships” donated during WW11 by America. His primary role was as an Air Frame Mechanic, working on a variety of aircraft, including Swordfish.

A reasonable history of the ship can be found on the link below. I know that he joined the ship firstly in San Francisco, was aboard her when she was torpedoed whilst on a convoy. At some point he was at Murmansk, but I am not sure if this was aboard HMS Nabob. I will try and dig out out a photo or two of the Tirpitz, which Nabob was involved in attacking (Operation Goodwood). He was with the ship at this time.

The photo below was taken after Nabob was torpedoed, and she can be seen to be listing to starboard. She managed to limp back to Scapa Flow, but with extensive damage she was taken out of action for the remainder of the war

http://www.royalnavyresearcharchive.org.uk/ESCORT/NABOB.htm

HMS Nabob