Free Republic

Lieutenant George Wookey, who has died aged 84, established a world record when, half a century ago, he went deeper than any helmeted diver in a flexible suit; later he brought up whisky from the ship sunk off the island of Benbecula which was the subject of the novel and the film Whisky Galore.On October 12 1956 Wookey was lowered 600 ft from a diving tender into a Norwegian fjord as part of a trial to discover the depth at which a diver could assist stranded submarine crews. While he went down with a heavy steel bench, representing the hull...