Age related question

[byron]

<font color=blue>OK Dudes, who can answer this... "What Portugese Anglophile phoned up the Royal Navy during WW2 and told them to build themselves a Destroyer and send him the bill"?
This they did and made him an honorary Lt. as a thank you.
Clue. He was a member of every Royal Yacht Club in the country barring the Royal Yacht Squadron.

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[simongoldthorpe]

I got it, it was... Premature Ejaculation, the Portugese Prime Minister.

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[adarcy]

Re: I don\'t know

and I don't think anyone else does either!

Go on, give us a few (hundred) more clues or the answer.

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[byron]

Re: I don\'t know

<font color=blue>
Surname = DeSolo owner of a shipping line, hows that for a clue?

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[paulineb]

Re: I don\'t know

first name Napoleon ?

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[BarryH]

Re: I don\'t know

Christ that takes me back. The Man from U.N.C.L.E.. Now your just showing your age.

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[paulineb]

Re: I don\'t know

My mother told me about it

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[jhr]

Re: I don\'t know

Years ago when I was young(er), I used to end up, occasionally, in the hallowed halls of the Royal London in Cowes. One of the regular sights was a tiny chap, probably in his 70s or 80s, called De Sola. He was always immaculately and properly dressed - perhaps overdressed - for the time of day or social occasion, (which was not something you could always accuse Royal London members of) and had the habit of asking embarrassing questions (usually the one that everybody else was trying not to ask) at precisely the wrong moment of the AGM.

A lovely man, nevertheless....

Any relation?

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[byron]

Re: I don\'t know

<font color=blue> That's him. Eduardo? De Sola lovely sweet old guy who as you say would always wear the correct club uniform especially at formal do's where he would be dressed in a set of Tails which always had his Lt's rank on the sleeve because he was so proud of his honorary Commission in the R.N.
Sad isn't it that such characters as this have passed into Folk Lore only to be remembered by old Duffers like me (and you?) and none seem to be coming along to replace them.
His Yacht when entering or leaving Cowes would always have the Crew lined up at attention facing the three main Royal clubs there... R.London, R.Corinthian, R.Squadron. he would then dip his ensign as he pased the Squadron.

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[jhr]

Old Duffer?

Well, middle aged, perhaps. I had the great good fortune to be dragged round Solent yachting circles by my Dad when I was kid. In consequence, I came across a lot of the characters, like De Sola, who do seem to have disappeared since, including numerous motor boaty legends (one day, when I am really bored, I will post my Dick Bertram story).

However, autre temps, autre moeurs; no doubt in 20 years’ time, YBW will resound to cries of “who remembers that Byron chap? What a card, eh? Do you remember all the husbands who were after him with a shotgun”? ;-)

According to SWMBO, I was in training to be an old duffer even when she first met me at university and now, 25 years on, I have more or less perfected the act. However, I take comfort from the wise words of Arthur Ransome in Swallows and Amazons : “Better drowned than duffers. If not duffers, won’t drown”.

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