Andy Barber
Those that knew him well however will always treasure his quiet moments away from the crowd, where he showed himself to be thoughtful, deeply caring and totally dependable. A friend for life and a friend to treasure.
Andy went through training determined to do well, he excelled in pretty much all he did, racking up 11 months advanced senriority from a possible 12. he was more than a little miffed when he came by to get the salute he had long told me i would have to give him to find the QM refused him entry in uniform--orders of the OOD sir you can come back in civvys --he did ;)
Andy went from Dartmouth to Rosyth and small ships --a fellow ton man--he dropped his SL Shag pride by switching GL, before moving on to Observer training--`I really wanted to be an observer, even if i didn't say so, after all the Pilot is just the taxi driver and if you are smart they make you go observer' he often opined!!
As always, Andy did well and his career continued to be on the rise as he was appointed in Command of HMS Alderney.
Soon after taking command Andy suffered an illness that ultimately took his life in October 2000.
Andy married a lovely girl called Kate and they produced a beautiful daughter named Amelia. He was a great Husband and loving dad and their house was a happy welcoming place.
His funeral was extremely well attended by so many of his Naval friends from entry on through his career, as well as many from school --he made new friends wherever he went but never forgot the old ones, there was not a dry eye in the house.
A lovely bloke sorely missed, the world is a lesser place without him.
Andy was the Navigator in HMS UPTON when I was Guns, so we shared a cabin together. Top bloke, with an infectious sense of schoolboy humour, always very happy to shake you at 3 in the morning when he came back from a run ashore! As a fellow Observer, I was delighted for him when he broke the mould and became FONA's first 'thinking man' Flag Lt. He would have done really well had his life been not cut short. RIP Andy
tribute by Alan CummingsNick has spurred me on, and I haven’t been looking forward to this. Writing about Andy was always going to be difficult for all of us who knew him first from the Blake Dorm and then kept up with him throughout his career. He was always one of those people that football managers curiously sum up on Match of the Day as “giving 110%”. He put the keen into thrusting and was unashamedly Jack to the core. He excelled in every job he did from Duty Mid to Flag Lieutenant; you couldn’t run or hide if he was in charge of the Blake Duty part of the watch….and I tried believe me. We had many good times and he lost none of his sense of humour as he worked his way up to being CO of an Island Class. Missed but not forgotten, I have some great memories of Andy and he is still the subject of much laughter when the Blake boys get together. Cheers mate.
tribute by Tony CarruthersAndy will be missed in May. I clearly remember him singing along to his 'Go West' cassette whilst bulling his shoes in the Blake Dorm. I don't miss his singing, but I really do miss him. Will raise a glass or two when we meet up.
tribute by Nick Davis