"When you left school at the end of your 2 year Catering Course, already having gained your City and Guilds 147 and CSE (Catering) examinations, did you go straight into the Royal Navy?" "No, I worked in a hospital in the Greenwich District for 3.5 months because there was a waiting list for recruitment into the Navy." "How long a term have you signed on for in the Navy?" "12 years altogether." "When you join the Navy do you learn to be a sailor first before you specialise in your trade?" "Yes, they make that very clear, you are first a sailor and then a chef." "What sort of General Navy Training did you have to do?" "I went down to HMS Raleigh in Plymouth, and I did a 6 week basic training course. There I learnt the drill, about ships, parts of ships and how you are expected to behave on a ship. At this stage all recruits are trained together." "How long was this training?" "6 weeks, then I went on to the Royal Naval School of Cookery, HMS Pembroke at Chatham. There I started a 3 month course, and found it was like going over the school course, but I found my school course was helpful, in fact it was instrumental in enabling me to enter for Hotelympia. The instructor saw I had done Catering before, so called me into his office, "I see you have done Catering before", "Yes" I said. "Well" he said, "you have the opportunity of taking your exam in one week and then going immediately on draft to a ship, or to stay behind at Chatham and prepare yourself to enter Hotelympia in 5 weeks time." I chose Olympia." "What class did you enter?" "I joined a team and we went in for the junior services competition." "What did you actually present?" "It was a meal, a live competition." "How many other competitors were there?" "There were 2 teams from each of the services. The Army trained for 18 months we were told, and the RAF nearly a year. Because we had only had 5 weeks, the judges tried to disqualigy us but we insisted on going through with it." "How did you get on?" "The Navy B team took the silver medal, and the Navy A team the Gold Medal." "Congratulations. You must have done well both at school and during those 5 weeks to get such splendid rsults, and shown a great deal of courage even if not under fire! What happened after Olympia?" "On leaving Chatham, I was sent to Portsmouth to work in the kitchen of the Naval Shore base, Whale Island, and while I was there, I was lucky, I was selected to accompany the field gunners who were taking part in the Royal Tournament at Earls Court." "From how many men were you selected?" "There were about 250 in the cookery school." "Congratulations again." "There were cooks from the Army and the Air Force there as well and we all worked together." "When you had finished with the Royal Tournament did you return to Whale Island?" "No, I was sent to Northwood near Watford, I was there for 9 months, this is a NATO communications centre." "And then?" "I was drafted to a ship at last! HMS Devonshire, a guided missile destroyer, with a company of about 480 men." "Does the general discipline filter down to the galleys?" "Yes, but only up to a point." "What are your hobbies, Peter?" "Competitive swimming, when you are in a shore base there is every opportunity. No matter what your sport is, the Navy will always find somebody willing to instruct you in that sport, and if it happens to cost money, which most sports do, the Navy finances you, they have all the equipment available for everything from mountaineering to swimming! Well the Navy would have the equipment for swimming, wouldn't they!" "Are you happy in the Royal Navy?" "Yes, you have always got other people around you, and I like people." "How much leave do you get?" "17 days 3 times a year basically, but there are also some weekends granted for various reasons." "How much of the world have you seen since you joined the Navy?" "Quite a bit of Canada, America, the West Indies, the Virgin Isles, I've been all round the Med and we've just come back from Cyprus." "Do you ever get leave in foreign ports?" "While we were in America on the last trip, 6 of us got together and asked for leave. You are not normally given a long leave abroad, in fact not more than 24 hours. We asked for 5 days leave, and much to our surprise we got it!" "And what did you do?" "When we put into Virginia we hired a car, we all put £60 into a kitty, and we went off for 5 days in the car staying in hotels every night. In 5 days we did 2.5 thousand miles, touring the Southern States. There were 2 drivers. I learnt to drive in the Navy." "What hopes have you for your future carrer?" "Big ones! I just want to get as high as I can in the Catering branch of the Royal Navy." "So you've no regrets?" "No, I've never regretted it at all, it's a good life, well paid, and there is always plenty going on." Excerpt from an interview with cook Peter Price R.N. Published in Careers in Catering. This same magazine also included a photograph of Peter receiving his Gold Medal whilst he was at HMS Excellent.