Steve Thorpe – Response Force

Simon: And what was the bit about speedboats then? What was that for?

Well because when you parachute out the back of a plane …

Simon Oh this is when you were a Response Force.

Yes, so Submarine Parachute Assistance Group. So, you have to know how to drive a boat, you have to know about the Life Rafts, you know about submarine escape.

All that stuff is just unique really.

There’s not many Submariners that are parachute trained, so loads of people used to comment all throughout my career, “How come you’re a Submariner and you’ve got parachute wings?” but that’s what you used to do.