OK, next bit.
So my cousin says my dad is a legend...
My fathers work was primary based at a small military establishment at Longcross, Chobham in Surrey, England. It was primarily an R&D establishment with a test track located nearby. The establishment has been long decommissioned and is now Longcross Studios. The test track is used for filming etc. There were other locations he worked out of (all England), Bideford in Devon, Thetford in Norfolk, Salisbury Plain - there may have been others...I don't know - but more often than not he was at Horsea Island in Portsmouth, Hampshire. As a kid I went down there with him a few times...it only used to be accessible at low tide, but now it abuts the Port Solent Leisure complex. Hopefully, this link will take you to a view of the island (I remember the slipway leading into the lake when I was a kid...sitting next my dad while he drove DUKWs in while laughing like a crazy guy):
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/preview#!q=horsea+island&data=!1m4!1m3!1d6178!2d-1.0999212!3d50.8352516!2m1!1e3!4m10!1m9!4m8!1m3!1d5542188!2d-4.064941!3d53.800651!3m2!1i1920!2i882!4f13.1&fid=7I guess due to the nature of his work it was just an unfortunate collision of his skill/experience/stupidity that he was called upon to dive on what my cousin briefly described as a 'sunken U-Boat filled with anything that would explode', that had gone down in the Solent area during WW2. The submarine was [apparently] on a suicide mission of some sort to take out the Royal Navy docks/ships during the war...it had sunk and (I'll keep saying allegedly here) was lost/forgotten about somehow (no idea why), but then found again and was considered a major threat to shipping. As far as I was able to ascertain, there was no one right minded enough to say yes to dive on it except for my dad, but for some reason, my dad said he'd do it. And he did it several times, solo dives, documenting, making safe what he could. My cousin said this gave him this kind of mystical/legendary status.
That's it. That's all I know. My cousin said beyond this it's all classified, they want to keep amateur divers off the wreck. I've checked the web as far as a civilian could, but nada. The thing is, I have no reason to disbelieve what my cousin said. I know my dad did enough crazy things with his work and I know he would have just said, 'Yeah, f*ck it, I'll do it.' I'm sorry there's no Bruce Willis 'Kabooom' ending. He was just doing his job and something no one else seemingly had the guts or nerve to do.
As a father I saw a softer side...he loved gardening, fishing, getting a decent tan and coming to see me play. I miss him every day.
P
