Gary "Luke" LUCAS
Joined 28th April 2010 (219)
82 - 85
Gary "Luke" Lucas joined Pusser UK Ltd in 1976 as an AB Missleman, and in a ship littered 14 year career got to play with the main armament on some of the oldest ships in the Fleet! - Tiger 77-78, Bulwark 78-80, Rothesay 86-87 and Fearless 87-88 - and in the middle he won a draft to the brand spanking new Mighty Manch (82-85)! Luke rates Tiger and Manchester as his best ships, and his best Manchester ship's visits were undoubtedly South Georgia and Florida, on account that both places were crawling with birds that were easy to pick up! However, Sydney, Oztralia gets his vote for most memorable run ashore in the days when he was a spotty faced OD on Tiger. Twas at the local zoo early in the day when misfortune first grimaced upon our hero, who chose the wrong moment and wrong place to open his wallet only to see the contents ravenously consumed by a passing Emu! (Yes Sir, Honest, Sir, my ID card isn't actually lost, I know where it is, it's inside that fxcking Emu!) Undeterred, our gullible gunner was then enticed across Sydney Harbour to Manly and the delights of the infamous Blow Wave (!) night club, for an evening of alcohol induced social confusement! Getting back though, proved much more hazardous for our gunnery guru, who chose to ignore the tides, the known sharks and set out to swim the seven miles back to Sydney! He didn't get far before being fished out the oggin by a passing cross harbour ferry! That's some run ashore when you loose your ID card and your dosh, and nearly lose your virginity and your life! Now domiciled in Woolloomooloo - trying saying that after a few scoops - near Sydney. Luke is just about to crack a 20 stretch with the RAN and says it's great living in Australia, especially when you support a winning cricket team...England! He heard about the 2nd HMS Manchester Association from another Aussie matelot.
Steve MacMILLAN
Joined 23rd June 2007
Mac packed a great deal into the 6 month period he spent on the "Mighty Manch" - swimming trunks, sunbins, click click bed and bronzy cream to name but a few! A trainee member of "helo's R us" under the wing (?) of the urbane (!) Mick Mortimore, Mac successfully eluded King Neptune's police at the crossing the line ceremony en-route to Mombers only to be subsequently arrested by those with good memories and a hatred of Tiffs in Portland Harbour, 3 months later, where he received the necessary gunking and dunking, and where our hero was quick to notice the 'oggin was close to nought degrees even if he wasn't!! Now shortly to deploy to Auckland to join the Royal New Zealand Air Force - another group of aero enthusiasts - and one that is even smaller than Buster's Fleet Air Arm!!! Good luck Mac!!...but remember you'll still be a Wafoo!!
Darren "Daz" MAJOR
Graham "Pincher" MARTIN
Andy "Dan" MASKILL
(Andrea)
87 - 90
Dan was yet another bunting tosser who enjoyed a three year stint onboard between 87-90. Among his claims to fame is that he was in the party of matelots who got a call round to the Vatican from Pope John Paul II, and he was one of the "lucky" ones who got a "call the hands" from the Prime Minister when Maggie Thatcher visited us in the Gulf. Andy, who lives in Leeds, is a big Leeds United fan, so please, no taking the pxss when they get relegated again this year!!! Heard about the Association via Google.
Steve "Stan" MATTHEWS
Joined 6th September 2008
82 - 85
Steve Matthews joined Pusser UK Ltd as an OD Gunner in 1981, and in the time it takes to spot a 4.5 turret, he was on the Mighty Manch presenting Fire Extinguishers for Evening Rounds and popping down to Kellett's Kave - the Main Naval Store - for such items as long waits, spirit level bubbles and fallopian tubing!!! His most memorable run ashore on D95 was West Palm Beach, Florida, on the way home from "Down South" where he experienced the American phenomena of being grippoed. This caused our hero to be well fed, well watered and well loved too!! A full career Gunner, Steve served 24 years before the breech and also made things go bang on Gloucester and Broadsword. More surprisingly, throughout his career, he never ever once went in the S H one T! On retirement, Gunner Goody Two Shoes got himself a cushy number with Flagship at Collingrad assisting in the training of the sailor of tomorrow - whose name just happens to be...Jack! Steve learned about the Association via Friends Re-united.
Stewart "Booker" MAYBERY
Joined 6th April 2013 (283)
John McGUIRE
Joined 20th April 2018 (330)
Alan McKENDRICK
Joined 4th July 2007
(Carmel)
Aug 85 - Jan 88
Alan was the flight SMR and another Global 86 vet! (Yawn!). A real sea going wafoo - he claims to have bronzied on the flight decks of Brazen, Andromeda, Monmouth and Broadsword - and one who nearly didn't make the run ashore in San Francisco on account of Amazon's pxss poor attempt to berth outboard of the Mighty Manch. More akin to a ramming than a berthing, the impact caused the folded tail of Manchester's Lynx to swing round and would have caught our aeronautical artisan a right unfortunate one had it not been for the swift intervention of one Connie Francis, who saved the day, and the wafoo with a timely shove!! This was much to the chagrin of the entire PO's Mess as Alan was responsible for moving aircraft lashing chains across the flight deck and frequently disturbing the sleep of those below. Now fully recovered and saving hard to buy Connie a beer, Alan lives in Lancashire with his wife Cara - who was a nurse at a certain Manchester Children's Hospital. Heard about the Association from Dave Childs, his predecessor onboard.
Sam McKEOWN
(Maura)
Andy McMAIN
Joined 18th February 2015 (307)
James McOUAT
Joined 02 September 2014 (302)
Dave MERRICK
(Liz)
Paul "Dusty" MILLER
Joined 3rd March 2021 (351)
Stephen MOFFATT
Joined 13th April 2012 (265)
Alan "Rattler" MORGAN
Joined 24th December 2014 (306)
Bill MORGAN
Michael "Mick" MORTIMORE
Re-Joined 26th July 2022 (365)
John "Larry" MOTTON
Joined 18th May 2014 (300)
Steve "Mourbs" MOURBY
Re-Joined 6th September 2022 (366)
John MULLEN
Joined 17th September 2008
82 -84 and 86 - 87
John Mullen - absolutely no relation to Bob / BTC whatsoever - did a ten year stint with Pusser UK Ltd during which time he enjoyed two drafts to the Might Manch - 82 - 84 and early 86 - late 87, which makes him yet another Global 86 veteran!! A member of an elite corps - the white mafia - John rates D95 as his best ship (the competition was Soberton, Coventry and some yacht now tied up in Leith) and Singapore as his best run ashore on account that his wife was with him and the keel was laid for a happy event nine months later! Leaving the mob in 1990, and inspired by his success as a member of the shore patrol in Darwin, John joined Hampshire Old Bill - his local crime fighting agency. Still with the Force 18 years later, our hero how runs a bed an breakfast facility complete with bars - not the type we like - for those who cannot behave themselves! As a respected crime fighter, we are, unfortunately, unable to identify the killick chef who was responsible for covering the front of HMS Mercury's Wardroom with silage in a less than successful major fire exercise 'cos John asked us not to!
