Family of Dundee Sea Cadets commander Bill Wylie MBE pay tribute one year after death
A service was recently held to mark the first anniversary of his passing aged 74.
It came as his mother Eliza died aged 103 just a few weeks ago on April 23.
Lieutenant Commander (SCC) W G Wylie MBE RNR was born in Perth on November 5 1949.
He attended Northern District, then Goodlyburn schools.
When he left school, he started an apprenticeship as an agricultural engineer.
From there, he moved to Harry Emslie as a sales rep.
He then worked in various motor parts companies the rest of his career until near retirement age.
Around this time he drove a minibus for Barnados, then as bakery deliverer for Wallace's.
The Sea Cadets played a huge role in Bill's life from a young age.
He joined Perth Sea Cadets at 12 years old, where he was a champion swimmer.
In 1970, he joined Dundee Sea Cadets as a Petty Officer (PO), where he was introduced to his wife, Myra, through her lifelong friend Irene.
They married in July 1973. Their only daughter Karen was born the following year.
Bill rose through the ranks with the Cadets, becoming Sub Lieutenant, Lieutenant, then Lieutenant Commander.
He held many positions, including CO of Dundee, District Officer, Area Boats Officer and Area Band Officer.
He was instrumental in starting the Dundee boat station, which originated in the old Cal Fab building in the docks.
When Bill joined, cadets were based on HMS Unicorn, before a unit was built in the grounds of HMS Camperdown.
In 2004, they moved to a purpose built unit, where it remains to this day.
Bill received an MBE for his long service to Sea Cadets in the 2006 Birthday Honours.
He was presented with this at Buckingham Palace from the then Prince Charles.
Bill also received the Captains Medal for 50 year's dedicated service to Sea Cadets.
Also presented was a Certificate of Appreciation in recognition of outstanding service to The Sea Cadets and volunteers of Northern Area.
Other accolades included a Platinum Jubilee Certificate of Merit in June 2022.
Bill spent his whole life dedicated to the Sea Cadets, where he took the youngsters to numerous competitions within the UK and Ireland.
He even managed to acquire a 52 seater bus to take them to Germany, where the band attended various events in Ingolstadt.
Bill was also instrumental in forming the tri-service cadet band with the Army and air force cadets.
Following his death on May 6 2024, many Facebook tributes gave an insight into how Bill was instrumental in shaping a lot of their lives.
Dundee Sea Cadets said: 'Bill was a very well known member of the Sea Cadets and over his many years service held many roles at Unit, District and Area level.
'Over the years he helped many children to achieve and have adventures that they have stories and memories to remember for a lifetime.'
His wife Myra was also heavily involved with the cadets, starting the girls' section, becoming a CO herself.
Their daughter Karen also played in the band.
Bill is survived by his wife Myra, daughter Karen, son in law Frankie and grandsons Owen and Luca.
His sister Katherine lives in Perth Australia. His mother Eliza also lived there until her recent passing.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Metro
3 days ago
- Metro
How a remote Royal Navy base celebrated VJ Day - and the horrors they saw after
Bill Jones witnessed the horrors of the war against Japan after the enemy surrendered on VJ Day Each year that August 15 rolls around, William 'Bill' Jones casts his mind back to VJ Day. It was when, 80 years ago, that Japan announced it had surrendered to the Allied Forces. And while thousands of people in the UK held street parties and parades celebrating the end, Bill's memories from that time are far more bittersweet. The 99-year-old was 14 and living in Penistone, South Yorkshire, when the UK and France declared war on Germany in September 1939 a few days after the Nazis invaded Poland. Six years later, he had been sent 8,500 miles away to a remote Pacific Island, waiting for news of a surrender from Japan. Sign up for all of the latest stories Start your day informed with Metro's News Updates newsletter or get Breaking News alerts the moment it happens. Bill Jones joined the Navy when he was just 18 (Picture:Royal British Legion) He had decided when he was 18 he would join the Navy in 1944, which led him being trained for combat and sent into action. But instead of fighting German U-Boats in the Atlantic, he was dispatched to the Pacific, where Japanese forces were stubbornly resisting allied advances. The veteran said: 'I had been an engineer, so they made me a metal worker. We went out in a liner all the way to Australia, where we took a carrier into the war zone. That's when it started.' In March 1945, his team of engineers landed in a little coral island of Ponam, off the north coast of Papua New Guinea. By that time, the war in the Pacific had advanced with ruthless intensity. Bill worked on Ponam (pictured) repairing British aircraft during the last months of the war (Picture: Royal British Legion) Bill recalled: 'The Kamikazes were attacking our ships, so we were busy assembling, maintaining and repairing aircrafts for our carriers.' When the war in Europe ended, there was still no end in sight for Bill and his British comrades. Despite the devastating fire-bombing of their cities and the crippling of their armed forces, the Japanese refused to surrender in Asia. Just as Bill was planning to take a Dakota transport plane to Australia for some well-earned rest, the world changed forever. On August 6, the US dropped a nuclear bomb on the city of Hiroshima, killing 70,000 people instantly. Three days later, another one landed on Nagasaki, killing another 40,000 in the blink of an eye. The moment the Nagasaki bomb detonated, as seen from 9.6km away (Picture: Getty) It took just six more days, until August 15, for the Japanese Emperor to concede his country's defeat in a radio broadcast to his people. So it was in a stiflingly-hot, mosquito-riven island when Bill heard that the Second World War had finally come to an end. The news triggered raucous celebrations across the Navy base – including with one unique tradition carried out across the Pacific. It might seem unusual now, but sailors in the Royal Navy had a daily allowance of rum, called a 'tot', an equivalent to about two shots. But on special celebratory occasions, the order was given to 'splice the mainbrace' and allow for the soldiers to have an extra tot of rum. On VJ day, Bill and his fellow soldiers were delighted to learn they could have an extra tot, and embarked across their own parties on the island. He even has a picture of the day, giving a clue about what they all got up to now that his memories have faded. An image from Ponam, believed to be VJ Day – celebrations in full swing. Bill is bottom right, wearing an American hat (Picture:Royal British Legion) But after several days of celebrations, the servicemen were soon reminded of the horrors of war that people across the globe had faced. Two Dakota jets, originally lined up to take Bill and his comrades to Australia before they headed back to the UK, were diverted to Japan to collect prisoners of war. 'On their way back, the Dakotas stopped off at Ponam to refuel,' Bill said. Japanese treated prisoners of war brutally. Pictured is a Japanese camp for British POWs at Kamburi (Picture: Imperial War Museum) 'The prisoners were as thin as rakes, and covered with bruises where they had been beaten, some of them had been prisoners for over three years. 'The canteen prepared food for them but they couldn't eat it. I've never seen anything like it my life, what happened to them. 'We put them back on the planes as soon as possible, to get them to hospital in Australia.' According to the Imperial War Museum, Japan's early successes in East Asia during the Second World War resulted in more than 190,000 British and Commonwealth troops being taken prisoner. It added that at the time, the Japanese military's philosophy was that 'anyone surrendering was beneath contempt.' This means prisoners were held in brutal camps and forced to work exhausting infrastructure projects. Prisoners working on a railway bridge between Thailand & Burma during the second world war. 26,000 Allied prisoners of war who were forced to work on the project died from ill-treatment, malnutrition & disease (Picture: BBC Picture Archives) One of these was the Burma-Thailand 'Death Railway', of which 16,000 died in the brutal construction. British, Commonwealth and Indian troops meanwhile fought Japanese soldiers during the Burma Campaign from December 1941 to September 1945 in the Second World War. The conditions they faced were unimaginable, said Mark Cann, who is the director of the Burma Star Memorial Fund, which honours those who fought during that time. He told Metro: 'They were in this hot, humid jungle full of snakes and spiders and raging river torrents, and nonstop rain. 'There were diseases: dysentery, malaria and cholera. British Commandos wading ashore at Myebon, Burma from a Royal Indian Navy landing craft in January 1945 (Picture: Collection/ANL/Shutterstock) 'The enemy were absolutely terrifying, uncompromising and initially perceived as the real experts of that terrain. 'The fact that they had all of that, all at once, for a sustained period, is what I think we can never really fully understand.' It is because of all of these challenges that when VJ Day arrived, it was a moment of celebration as much as remembrance, Mark said. 'People were celebrating the fact they'd survived. It was a moment of euphoria. It was a moment of 'Bloody hell, I've survived. Thank God. It's over and we won',' he added. Campaigners and charities have said that this year's VJ Day carries extra weight, as it's likely to be the last opportunity to recognise the sacrifices of veterans while a handful of them are still alive. Bill has never forgotten what he saw when those liberated soldiers landed back in Ponam. (Picture:Royal British Legion) Mark added: 'The opportunity VJ80 represents to lay strong foundations for the future is an opportunity not to be missed. 'The life we enjoy now has always, and will always, be preserved by young people marching towards danger, to stand in harm's way for us and the values we hold dear as a nation. 'The debt we owe those young people is immense and we will continue to do everything possible to ensure it is never forgotten.' For Bill, who returned to the UK on Christmas Eve in 1945, it's the servicemen who never made it home that he pays tribute to. 'I was very lucky that I was in the right place at the right time. If I mark VJ Day, it's for the lads that lost their lives.' Bill will be attending the Royal British Legion's Service of Remembrance at the National Memorial Arboretum, which is broadcast live on BBC One from 11:30am. Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@ For more stories like this, check our news page. Arrow MORE: The rudest name ever for a video game was a complete accident Arrow MORE: How four people survived one of the deadliest plane crashes that killed 520 Arrow MORE: Meet Britain's Doomsday preppers stockpiling for World War Three
The Guardian
11-08-2025
- The Guardian
Growing pains: can rice production in Africa keep up with demand?
Salmata Ouattara remembers 2023 as the turning point for her rice farm. June is usually the peak of the rainy season in Ivory Coast, but in the preceding years she and other farmers in M'Be on the outskirts of Bouaké, the country's second biggest city, would wait weeks for rainfall. Then in September, they would watch helplessly as their farmlands were flooded. Some abandoned their farms, frustrated by fluctuating crop yields. For Ouattara, that was not an option. As her family's breadwinner, proceeds from the farm catered to the needs of her three children as well as requests from other relatives. Then another farmer mentioned a concept called Smart Valleys that had helped solve similar issues and double his income. 'Before, I made 2 tonnes a year [and] earned at least 400,000CFA [west African francs, equivalent to £528.60],' said Ouattara, who has since added maize, tomatoes and cucumbers to her portfolio. 'But as soon as we put Smart Valleys into practice, I made 4.5 tonnes, which makes me 900,000CFA (£1,189.34).' Smart Valleys is a low-cost initiative by the nonprofit organisation Africa Rice that aims to help farmers get better control over the water on their land, for example by using channels, in order to reduce flooding and increase yields. It also helps farmers diversify crop production. The programme – backed primarily by Japan's agriculture ministry – focuses on inland valleys, low-lying areas between hills with fertile soils that are ideal for agriculture but rarely cultivated due to poor water control. Its head, Elliott Dossou-Yovo, said the valleys cover 190m hectares in sub-Saharan Africa, of which only 10% is cultivated. 'In the past, farmers were trying to produce rice only once a year and failing,' said Dossou-Yovo. With his team's support, fields that used to be abandoned during the dry season are cultivated with alternative crops, thereby diversifying farmers' portfolios and increasing their incomes. Africa Rice, established in 1971, set a goal to double rice production within a decade in 2009, when it changed its name from West Africa Rice Development Association. Since achieving that target, it has ambitiously turned to self-sufficiency for member states by 2030. The core of its work happens a few miles away from Ouattara's farm at an 800-hectare research campus, where there are facilities including testing sites, a seed science lab and gene bank with 22,000 rice varieties used by scientists to develop improved strains. Funders include the Gates Foundation, the World Bank, and donor partners including Islamic Development Bank and African Development Bank, though member states also make contributions. The need for Africa Rice arose because in the 1960s and 70s, rice consumption and population growth surpassed food production rate in west Africa, Baboucarr Manneh, its Gambian-born director general, said. Today, rice that was previously reserved for feasting occasions, is arguably the continent's most popular staple. 'Rice is very popular because it is easy to cook,' he said. 'It used to seem like a luxury food to many consumers, compared with maize and millet. If you go to Sierra Leone, they used to consume a lot of roots and tubers etc, but people now associate those foods with poverty so they prefer rice.' Sali Atanja Ndindeng heads the rice sector development programme, which develops new varieties in conjunction with market trends and analyses samples received from partner institutions in member countries to help identify good grain quality. 'Our goal is to make rice not just an energy-dense food, but a nutrient-dense food … and at the same time, reduce the impact of rice causing peaks in glucose levels when people consume it,' he said. One way to do this, the team thinks, is to promote the consumption of parboiled rice – which some studies have shown has a lower impact on blood sugar levels – in countries such as Ivory Coast, where it is historically unpopular, to mirror countries like Nigeria where it is prevalent. Ndindeng's teams also make pop rice that can be ground to instant flour for children to eat with milk and chocolate as well as rice crackers integrated with local items including ginger, hibiscus, soy and tamarind which are high in zinc and iron, to tackle deficiencies in those micronutrients. Many barriers are holding back member countries from reaching self-sufficiency. For years, cheap imports have flooded African markets from Asia, where producers benefit from heavy subsidies. Africa imports about 40% of rice it consumes – about 15 to 16 million tonnes every year. More than half of the imports come from India alone. In July 2023, India banned rice exports, citing the need to consume more locally. 'That created a panic in Africa,' said Manneh. 'African ministers had to go to India to negotiate.' Only a fifth of rice fields in Africa use irrigation, with the rest relying on unpredictable rainfall, so member states are being guided on building climate-resilient systems. Tanzania is self-sufficient and exporting within east Africa. In west Africa, Nigeria, is close to doing so. Manneh is hoping for more success stories on a national level, but also on an individual level with farmers such as Ouattara, who are still stunned by what science is doing for their lives. 'They welcomed me … They guided me and I thank them,' she said.
The Guardian
11-08-2025
- The Guardian
Growing pains: can rice production in Africa keep up with demand?
Salmata Ouattara remembers 2023 as the turning point for her rice farm. June is usually the peak of the rainy season in Ivory Coast, but in the preceding years she and other farmers in M'Be on the outskirts of Bouaké, the country's second biggest city, would wait weeks for rainfall. Then in September, they would watch helplessly as their farmlands were flooded. Some abandoned their farms, frustrated by fluctuating crop yields. For Ouattara, that was not an option. As her family's breadwinner, proceeds from the farm catered to the needs of her three children as well as requests from other relatives. Then another farmer mentioned a concept called Smart Valleys that had helped solve similar issues and double his income. 'Before, I made 2 tonnes a year [and] earned at least 400,000CFA [west African francs, equivalent to £528.60],' said Ouattara, who has since added maize, tomatoes and cucumbers to her portfolio. 'But as soon as we put Smart Valleys into practice, I made 4.5 tonnes, which makes me 900,000CFA (£1,189.34).' Smart Valleys is a low-cost initiative by the nonprofit organisation Africa Rice that aims to help farmers get better control over the water on their land, for example by using channels, in order to reduce flooding and increase yields. It also helps farmers diversify crop production. The programme – backed primarily by Japan's agriculture ministry – focuses on inland valleys, low-lying areas between hills with fertile soils that are ideal for agriculture but rarely cultivated due to poor water control. Its head, Elliott Dossou-Yovo, said the valleys cover 190m hectares in sub-Saharan Africa, of which only 10% is cultivated. 'In the past, farmers were trying to produce rice only once a year and failing,' said Dossou-Yovo. With his team's support, fields that used to be abandoned during the dry season are cultivated with alternative crops, thereby diversifying farmers' portfolios and increasing their incomes. Africa Rice, established in 1971, set a goal to double rice production within a decade in 2009, when it changed its name from West Africa Rice Development Association. Since achieving that target, it has ambitiously turned to self-sufficiency for member states by 2030. The core of its work happens a few miles away from Ouattara's farm at an 800-hectare research campus, where there are facilities including testing sites, a seed science lab and gene bank with 22,000 rice varieties used by scientists to develop improved strains. Funders include the Gates Foundation, the World Bank, and donor partners including Islamic Development Bank and African Development Bank, though member states also make contributions. The need for Africa Rice arose because in the 1960s and 70s, rice consumption and population growth surpassed food production rate in west Africa, Baboucarr Manneh, its Gambian-born director general, said. Today, rice that was previously reserved for feasting occasions, is arguably the continent's most popular staple. 'Rice is very popular because it is easy to cook,' he said. 'It used to seem like a luxury food to many consumers, compared with maize and millet. If you go to Sierra Leone, they used to consume a lot of roots and tubers etc, but people now associate those foods with poverty so they prefer rice.' Sali Atanja Ndindeng heads the rice sector development programme, which develops new varieties in conjunction with market trends and analyses samples received from partner institutions in member countries to help identify good grain quality. 'Our goal is to make rice not just an energy-dense food, but a nutrient-dense food … and at the same time, reduce the impact of rice causing peaks in glucose levels when people consume it,' he said. One way to do this, the team thinks, is to promote the consumption of parboiled rice – which some studies have shown has a lower impact on blood sugar levels – in countries such as Ivory Coast, where it is historically unpopular, to mirror countries like Nigeria where it is prevalent. Ndindeng's teams also make pop rice that can be ground to instant flour for children to eat with milk and chocolate as well as rice crackers integrated with local items including ginger, hibiscus, soy and tamarind which are high in zinc and iron, to tackle deficiencies in those micronutrients. Many barriers are holding back member countries from reaching self-sufficiency. For years, cheap imports have flooded African markets from Asia, where producers benefit from heavy subsidies. Africa imports about 40% of rice it consumes – about 15 to 16 million tonnes every year. More than half of the imports come from India alone. In July 2023, India banned rice exports, citing the need to consume more locally. 'That created a panic in Africa,' said Manneh. 'African ministers had to go to India to negotiate.' Only a fifth of rice fields in Africa use irrigation, with the rest relying on unpredictable rainfall, so member states are being guided on building climate-resilient systems. Tanzania is self-sufficient and exporting within east Africa. In west Africa, Nigeria, is close to doing so. Manneh is hoping for more success stories on a national level, but also on an individual level with farmers such as Ouattara, who are still stunned by what science is doing for their lives. 'They welcomed me … They guided me and I thank them,' she said.
