| ASADA are sad to announce the death of Len Charlton. Len
passed away on Wednesday the 14th of January 2009 in his sleep. His
service was held on Monday 26th of January at the London Crematorium. |
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Those of you who have looked at the ASADA history pages
on the web will know that Len made a remarkable contribution to Services
recreational diving. He was an active member of the BSAC Hong-Kong
branch in the early 1960s and formed a recognised Army Sub Aqua Club
there in 1969. In 1971 the then WO1 Len Charlton (RAOC) became the
Publicity Officer for ASADA. In 1972 Len became the BSAC Representative
in Hong Kong and was appointed to the BSAC National Diving Committee. In
September 1974 he produced the first copy of the ASADA Journal, then
known as the Sea Horse. In a little under 2 years he produced 4 issues
of the journal. He was a prolific writer and great editor and these were
real “bumper” issues. |
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Len (at the bottom of the stairs ) during an Exped to
NZ. |
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| Len led or was instrumental in setting up a
great number of adventure training expeditions. Numerous units took
advantage of his location in Hong Kong and he was no stranger to the
diving waters off of Singapore and Malaysia. In 1974 he was Diving
Officer on a very successful expedition to New Zealand. He was also
responsible for leading a team of 4 army divers who dived an old well in
a pub in Durham. |
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When the opportunity arose to explore a disused well
beneath the Old Well Hotel in Barnard he was the first in the water!
(see picture opposite).
During his time in the Army Len served in Singapore, Malaya, Egypt,
Malta & Libya. On his retirement he went to work for Goldhawk Press,
publishers of Sub Aqua Magazine. Those interested in looking at extracts
from the first 5 issues can access them below.
Len will be sadly missed by all of us in the diving community. He was an
ambassador for the sport and for Army Sub-aqua. |
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