Latest news with #TomBerry
Stuff.tv
24-05-2025
- General
- Stuff.tv
I almost threw out my old cables. This week proved I never should
A few weeks back, people on Bluesky started bragging about throwing out cables. I would have penned a column about this at the time, but, frankly, I needed to recover from the shock. Because it turns out there are two types of people in this world: monsters who throw away cables, and sensible folks who – obviously entirely correctly – believe that you absolutely need to have a house full of cables, because you never quite know when you're going to need one of them at some random point in the future. It was Tom Berry who first spiked my anxiety. He describes himself as a record collector. But he's apparently not a cable collector, because he said: 'Have just thrown out a big box of cables 'that might come in useful one day'.' Those scare quotes made my teeth itch. However, this flagrantly reckless missive might have vanished into the ether had author, political journalist and human expletive generator Ian Dunt not waded in: 'Sound. Look at the space your old just-in-case cables use up. Imagine how much you would pay for that extra storage in your flat. Check the price of buying a cable. Then get rid of them.' Every fibre of my being reeled. My brain screamed. My soul howled. Just… no. Because what if you do need one of those cables? You'll be all smug with your 'extra space' and 'drawers no longer stuffed full of cables'. But where will that leave you when you go to plug in a prized gadget and realise instead of a USB-C port, it's got some weird triangular thing staring back at you with a mischievous grin? On Amazon, that's where. Feeling dirty about feeding the Bezos machine and taking that 30-day trial of Prime just to get the thing delivered by tomorrow. Totally wired It's so beautiful. 'Come on', you might say. 'Isn't this a bit… over the top? Surely you don't collect and keep every cable you've ever owned?' Well, no. Even I don't fancy living in rooms packed with black, rubbery spaghetti and semi-random connectors. Even I have my limits. Also, I did on more than one occasional almost throw out all my old cables. But as the USB-C revolution trundled on, I instead decided to 'prune' cables and adapters I owned. So I still retain a selection of every cable type, because, well, you really never do know. And this past week, I went into smug mode. Our heating system decided to shun one of our radiators. It's a Tado v3, which cunningly ignores modern connectivity by having a 'star' network. In other words, a gadget plugs into the router, and from there broadcasts to devices on each radiator, telling them what to do. Which doesn't work when there's a steel in the way. Helpfully, Tado also only supplied a cable approximately half a nanometer long, and so I needed a much longer one to re-site the broadcasting unit. I was then duly surprised because the supplied cable was micro-USB. Had I been a cable-chucker – a Berry or a Dunt – I'd have had to suffer the indignity of buying a new cable, waiting for it to arrive, and remembering I'd casually tossed a bunch of perfectly usable ones for no good reason. Instead: vindication! I reached into the drawer of dreams, grabbed what I needed, and fixed the problem in seconds. Granted, this doesn't happen every day. And, sure, Berry and Dunt might… have a point if you lack storage space or hang on to literally every cable and adapter you've acquired since 1977, even when devices they power have long since died. But I'm absolutely not going to admit it, because what if years from now another device needs a cable I refused to get rid of? I'd feel pretty stupid if I'd just thrown it away.
BBC News
07-05-2025
- General
- BBC News
Navy veteran, 100, on 'getting squiffy' amid VE Day celebrations
Veteran, 100, recalls 'getting squiffy' on VE day Just now Share Save Share Save Royal British Legion handout Veteran Tom Berry says HMS Tartar became known as the Lucky Tartar for her many narrow escapes from danger A 100-year-old World War Two naval veteran has recalled "getting a bit squiffy" as he turned 21 amid the VE Day celebrations on his ship. Tom Berry, who was born and raised in Liverpool but now lives in Macclesfield, Cheshire, was a teenager when he joined the Royal Navy as a radio operator on the Tribal-class destroyer HMS Tartar. She became known as the Lucky Tartar for her many narrow escapes from danger during the war. Speaking ahead of the 80th anniversary of VE Day on Thursday, Mr Berry described celebrating his 21st birthday a day early, saying he and his crewmates "got an extra tot of rum". He said: "The captain came on to the deck and addressed the crew to let us know that the war was over in Europe. "The Admiralty ordered us to 'splice the mainbrace', which is basically an order to have a drink! "Because it was my birthday, I got more than most and got a bit squiffy." Nazi Germany surrendered to the Allies, ending almost six years of conflict in Europe, on 8 May 1945. The Royal British Legion will bring together World War Two veterans at an anniversary tea party and remembrance service at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire. 'Lucky man, lucky ship' Mr Berry, who will turn 101 on Friday, said he "hopes everyone joins in the spirit of the celebrations the Royal British Legion is laying on for the country". He said he "doesn't consider himself a hero" but rather a "lucky man on a lucky ship". HMS Tartar was one of only four destroyers to survive the war out of the 16 that started it. Mr Berry said one of the Lucky Tartar's closest scrapes happened on D-Day in June 1944, when the largest amphibious invasion in history began the liberation of western Europe from Nazi occupation. He said: "Our orders were to shell the German emplacements to allow the troops to land in Normandy – I felt very sorry for those poor soldiers heading into the unknown. "After the troops moved further inland we patrolled the Channel and sank two German destroyers, but they returned fire and shot our main mast away. "The galley and the bridge caught fire and we lost four men in that incident before limping back to Plymouth." Royal British Legion handout Veteran Tom Berry said he "doesn't consider himself a hero" After victory in Europe, the war continued for the Lucky Tartar in the Asia-Pacific theatre. Mr Berry recalled being "a bit miffed" because of "all this celebrating in the UK" while he and the crew were "still being shot at". "In the Far East we did have one particular encounter with a Japanese cruiser which was very heavily armed – we could only fire about five miles (away) but their range was seven or eight. "It was a tense time, but we kept going," he said. The end of the war came for Mr Berry on 2 September 1945, when the Lucky Tartar was present at the signing of the Japanese surrender in Tokyo Bay.
South Wales Guardian
07-05-2025
- General
- South Wales Guardian
100-year-old veteran recalls ‘getting squiffy' amid VE day celebrations
Tom Berry, born and raised in Liverpool, was a teenager when he joined the Royal Navy as a radio operator on the Tribal-class destroyer HMS Tartar. She became known as the Lucky Tartar for her many narrow escapes from danger during the war. D-Day veteran Tom Berry, from Macclesfield, who has spoken for the first time about his wartime experiences ahead of the 80th anniversary of VE Day (Royal British Legion/PA) Speaking ahead of the 80th anniversary of VE Day on Thursday, Mr Berry, who now lives in Macclesfield, Cheshire, described celebrating his 21st birthday a day early aboard the vessel, saying the crew 'got an extra tot of rum'. He said: 'The captain came on to the deck and addressed the crew to let us know that the war was over in Europe. 'The Admiralty ordered us to 'splice the mainbrace', which is basically an order to have a drink. 'Because it was my birthday, I got more than most and got a bit squiffy.' May 8 marks the date in 1945 when Germany surrendered to the Allies, ending almost six years of conflict in Europe. The Royal British Legion will bring together Second World War veterans at an anniversary tea party and remembrance service at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire. Mr Berry, who will celebrate his 101st birthday on Friday May 9, said he 'hopes everyone joins in the spirit of the celebrations the Royal British Legion is laying on for the country'. He said he 'doesn't consider himself a hero' but rather a 'lucky man on a lucky ship'. HMS Tartar was one of only four destroyers to survive the war out of 16 at the start of the conflict. Mr Berry said one of the Lucky Tartar's closest scrapes happened on D-Day, when the largest amphibious invasion in history began the liberation of western Europe from Nazi occupation. He said: 'Our orders were to shell the German emplacements to allow the troops to land in Normandy – I felt very sorry for those poor soldiers heading into the unknown. 'After the troops moved further inland we patrolled the Channel and sank two German destroyers, but they returned fire and shot our main mast away. 'The galley and the bridge caught fire and we lost four men in that incident before limping back to Plymouth.' After victory in Europe, the war continued for the Lucky Tartar in the Asia-Pacific, and Mr Berry recalled being 'a bit miffed' because of 'all this celebrating in the UK' while he and the crew were 'still being shot at'. 'In the Far East we did have one particular encounter with a Japanese cruiser which was very heavily armed – we could only fire about five miles (away) but their range was seven or eight. 'It was a tense time, but we kept going,' he said. The end of the war came for Mr Berry on September 2 1945, when the Lucky Tartar was present at the signing of the Japanese surrender in Tokyo Bay.
Western Telegraph
06-05-2025
- General
- Western Telegraph
100-year-old veteran recalls ‘getting squiffy' amid VE day celebrations
Tom Berry, born and raised in Liverpool, was a teenager when he joined the Royal Navy as a radio operator on the Tribal-class destroyer HMS Tartar. She became known as the Lucky Tartar for her many narrow escapes from danger during the war. D-Day veteran Tom Berry, from Macclesfield, who has spoken for the first time about his wartime experiences ahead of the 80th anniversary of VE Day (Royal British Legion/PA) Speaking ahead of the 80th anniversary of VE Day on Thursday, Mr Berry, who now lives in Macclesfield, Cheshire, described celebrating his 21st birthday a day early aboard the vessel, saying the crew 'got an extra tot of rum'. He said: 'The captain came on to the deck and addressed the crew to let us know that the war was over in Europe. 'The Admiralty ordered us to 'splice the mainbrace', which is basically an order to have a drink. 'Because it was my birthday, I got more than most and got a bit squiffy.' May 8 marks the date in 1945 when Germany surrendered to the Allies, ending almost six years of conflict in Europe. The Royal British Legion will bring together Second World War veterans at an anniversary tea party and remembrance service at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire. Mr Berry, who will celebrate his 101st birthday on Friday May 9, said he 'hopes everyone joins in the spirit of the celebrations the Royal British Legion is laying on for the country'. In the Far East we did have one particular encounter with a Japanese cruiser which was very heavily armed - we could only fire about five miles (away) but their range was seven or eight. It was a tense time, but we kept going Tom Berry He said he 'doesn't consider himself a hero' but rather a 'lucky man on a lucky ship'. HMS Tartar was one of only four destroyers to survive the war out of 16 at the start of the conflict. Mr Berry said one of the Lucky Tartar's closest scrapes happened on D-Day, when the largest amphibious invasion in history began the liberation of western Europe from Nazi occupation. He said: 'Our orders were to shell the German emplacements to allow the troops to land in Normandy – I felt very sorry for those poor soldiers heading into the unknown. 'After the troops moved further inland we patrolled the Channel and sank two German destroyers, but they returned fire and shot our main mast away. 'The galley and the bridge caught fire and we lost four men in that incident before limping back to Plymouth.' After victory in Europe, the war continued for the Lucky Tartar in the Asia-Pacific, and Mr Berry recalled being 'a bit miffed' because of 'all this celebrating in the UK' while he and the crew were 'still being shot at'. 'In the Far East we did have one particular encounter with a Japanese cruiser which was very heavily armed – we could only fire about five miles (away) but their range was seven or eight. 'It was a tense time, but we kept going,' he said. The end of the war came for Mr Berry on September 2 1945, when the Lucky Tartar was present at the signing of the Japanese surrender in Tokyo Bay.
