Peninsula News 4 September Commandos Prepare For Training In African Jungle Commandos from Plymouth will be travelling to the hot and humid jungles of West Africa this month for a major training exercise. Royal Marines from 3 Commando Brigade will fly to the Republic of Ghana to carry out reconnaissance training and provide humanitarian aid. It will be the marines' first trip to Ghana and their first chance to practice jungle warfare skills since their role during the Sierra Leone crisis five years ago. The aim of the five-week exercise, codenamed Western Rhumba, is to test the specialist reconnaissance elements of 3 Commando Brigade, who often work ahead of main land forces under strict secrecy, gathering information on enemy forces, equipment and terrain to relay back to commanders. About 280 Royal Marines, navy and army commandos will take part in the exercise, drawn from Bickleigh-based 42 Commando, Stonehouse-C based Brigade Patrol Troop and 539 Assault Squadron based in Turnchapel. Men from 45 Commando based in Taunton, 59 Commando Royal Engineers and 148 Battery Royal Artillery will join them. The troops will be supported by Royal Fleet Auxiliary vessels RFA Fort Rosalie and Sir Bedivere, plus helicopters from 846 Naval Air Squadron, part of the Commando Helicopter Force. The marines will be working alongside Ghanaian troops at a purpose-built jungle forces training school. Snipers will use live fire to hone their skills in a tropical climate, and troops from 539 ASRM will provide fast-boat support for river-based exercises, which will test commandos' ability to launch small to medium-scale precision assaults on the shore. The engineers from 59 Commando also aim to rebuild a school in the Achiase area of Ghana, and will repair bridges and training facilities in the area. Sgt Warren Bloomer, spokesman for 3 Commando Brigade, said: "The Royal Marines look forward to working alongside the Ghana Armed Forces and both sides should benefit immensely." 31 August Swimmers Safe Two naked male swimmers had to be rescued by a Ministry of Defence police launch after they got into difficulties in Plymouth Sound. The swimmers, aged 28 and 35, were rescued today at about 4.45am from the Devil's Point area. Police were alerted after a woman from Stonehouse heard cries for help. The MoD police launch found the two men clinging to a buoy. They were picked up and taken to a waiting ambulance at a nearby boatyard. Their clothes were recovered from Tinside Pool. Police said the two men 'felt like a dip' after attending a party. 28 August A Pennie For Your Thoughts From Epping in New South Wales, Australia, Joyce Callaghan (n??e Pennie) writes wondering if there are any old Pennies in the area who may be related to her via one of her ancestors, Walter William Pennie. Walter was born in Plymouth in 1853; his father, James (Penny or Pennie) was 38, his mother Thomasine (n??e Sloggett) was 32, and both parents were from Totnes. By the time William himself married, 24 years later, he was working as a ship's steward. The marriage took place in Walworth, Surrey, and his bride, Julia Colton, who was two years his junior, was originally from Roborough, just north of Plymouth. By the time Sydney, the first of their three children, was born in 1882, they were living in Stonehouse and Walter was working at a gentleman's outfitter Phillips and Son, Army and Navy Tailors, of 110 Union Street, Plymouth - possibly in the same premises which came to be occupied by Feneck's, one of the oldest-established businesses in the street. Babies Christopher and Evelyn arrived in 1891 and 1896 respectively, and latterly the family was living in 43 Emma Place, Stonehouse. However, in November 1903, at the age of just 48, Julia died: her mother Ann had gone two years earlier. Three years later Walter remarried and his second wife was Magdalene Hannah Seeth-Storey. In 1926 Walter himself passed on from exhaustion, after suffering for six years from a chronic gastric ulcer. Joyce writes: "This genealogy is so complicated! My sister, Janet Wood, has spent years collating it. The existence of WW Pennie is only recent information for us and we are eager to know if there are any cousins still living. "Unfortunately I was of the generation who were seen but not heard, never encouraged to ask questions, and sent out of the room when the adults spoke. "Also at that time we had just endured five and a half years of war," Joyce adds. "I'd been in the ATS for several years. We had other things on our minds." So there you have it. Does any of this relate to a part of your family tree? If so, Joyce would be delighted to hear from you. Drop us a line and we'll pass it on. 25 August Ice Cream Firm Hit By Thieves The owner of a Stonehouse ice cream company which has been targeted five times by thieves has doubled his offer of a cash reward in a bid to bring the culprits to justice. John Williams, 70, hopes the offer of a £2,000 reward will tempt anyone with information about the crooks to contact the police. His family company, Williams of Plymouth, has been raided on five occasions, with the last break-in being carried out some time overnight on Thursday, August 5. Mr Williams had previously offered a £1,000 reward to anyone with information about the latest raid, when five ice cream-making pumps were taken and £500 in cash was stolen from drawers and cabinets. Anyone with information should call police on 08452 777 444, quoting crime reference EC/04/7747. Alternatively, call Crimestoppers in confidence on 0800 555 111. 20 August Painting Of Yard Up For Auction An oil painting of the historic Royal William Yard looks set to fetch up to £18,000 when it goes under the hammer next month. The 150-year-old picture, titled The Royal William Victualling Yard, Stonehouse, Plymouth, is to be auctioned at Bonhams in London on September 14. The work, which measures 12 inches by 16 inches, is expected to become the fifth most valuable painting by tragic Plymouth-born artist Nicholas Matthew Condy. Condy, whose father, Nicholas Condy senior, was also an artist, was only 33 when he died suddenly at The Grove, Plymouth, in 1851. Auctioneers Bonhams say the Royal William Yard, which is currently being redeveloped, is 'widely regarded as one of the most important early 19th century industrial complexes in the country'. It was designed by the eminent civil engineer John Rennie the younger, from 1824 to 1825. Work began in 1827, after two years had been spent blasting and levelling the site to form a suitably flat area of some fourteen acres. Bonhams' report reads: "Quite apart from the quays and tidal basin, the complex was enormous and consisted of a brewery, flour mill and bakery, stockyards and slaughterhouse, numerous stores and even five residences for the senior officers in charge. "The whole ambitious scheme was finally completed at the end of 1832 and named after the 'Sailor King', William IV, under whose direction, as Duke of Clarence and Lord High Admiral of England, it was begun five years earlier." Condy was born in Union Street in 1818, just three years after the Battle of Waterloo and during the reign of King George III. He was set to join the army or navy, but opted instead to become a professor of painting in Plymouth. A new world record for a painting by Condy was set at Christie's in London last November, when his picture titled Fernande sold for £35,000.