Frog Tales

About the Book

We have all heard stories where somebody heard somebody say that they did such and such and the story seems so outlandish it can’t be true. Well here is a lifetime spent living some of those stories. The reader will be transported 600 miles out in the Atlantic Ocean and experience the horror of realising that the helicopter, your only means of getting back to your ship, has just inexplicably flown off over the horizon leaving you floating in a pond where you are now considered food. Or trying to cut your way out of a fishing net that is pressing you down onto the unforgiving shell of a 2000lb WW2 German bomb in visibility that is so bad you can’t tell the difference between dark and light, up or down or even which way the surface of the water is. Climbing down a cliff to recover a hand grenade from under a dead body that has been lying on top of it for 3 months. Then moving a bomb across a building site that is so sensitive spirit levels had to be taped to the top of it to keep it level so it won’t detonate, while only 30m away the UK firework championship contenders have laid out over 80 tons of fireworks in preparation for a three day display. Only three hours before this task began he was dealing with a hand grenade in a shop that was full of gas after the resident had torn the gas metre off the wall because of a dispute with his landlord. This is the stuff films are made of only films like this would clearly have to be put in the fiction genre, surely people don’t do this kind of thing for real? Mark D Holroyd has spent 24 years as a Clearance Diver in the British Royal Navy. His stories are a reflection on a life spent in situations most people would find hard to comprehend, from a diving course where at least 60% of those attempting the course are expected to fail. To escaping from sunken helicopters in complete darkness, this is life on the edge as part of a small elite group of men who make up this secretive part of the Royal Navy. When things get bad and the situation is dire humour is sometimes all that keeps men sane.

About the Author

Mark D Holroyd served for 24 years as a Clearance Diver in the Royal Navy and was decorated for bravery by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth 2. His time in the navy involved deep experimental saturation diving, above and below water anti-terrorism duties along with conventional bomb disposal in operations around the world. After leaving the navy he has worked in Afghanistan, Lebanon, Libya, Peru and Laos with commercial UXO companies and humanitarian organisations. He now lives in the southwest of England.