I fear this thread is becoming a 'Promote the Navy' piece of propaganda and that is definitely NOT the case. If the other services were doing this, I would like to think we would treat this issue with the exact same degree of pride?
I was not going to post anymore information regarding this incident but when we hear news of sometrhing like 'miner being found after days spent trapped underground!'
I feel we just need to share that type of news?
Royal Navy sailors have reached starving, homeless villagers still untouched by aid efforts two weeks after a "super" typhoon tore through the Philippines.
Sailors aboard HMS Daring found desperate people living without fresh water under rubbish heaps and sheltering in caves.
Manilla's confirmed death toll for Typhoon Haiyan on Saturday rose to 5,235, with another 1,613 people still missing after the storm flattened whole towns across a stretch of islands.
Haiyan now rivals a 1976 tsunami as the deadliest recorded natural disaster to befall the nation.
Crew from the Portsmouth-based destroyer had to wade ashore onto remote islands off Panay to deliver nearly a tonne of drinking water and shelter kits.
On Calagnaan they found one village untouched by relief efforts where the inhabitants were starving because winds nearing 150mph had destroyed all their crops and fishing boats.
Lt Cdr Telio ******-***** said: "These people survived the typhoon by hiding in a cave further up the hill.
"When we landed, which was particularly hazardous as there was an extensive area of coral so we had to wade ashore, a woman came running up to me crying and pulling on my sleeves.
"She was saying they hadn't eaten for two days and they had run out of all their supplies."
Lt Cdr Steven *** said residents on several islands had been living in terrible conditions.
He said: "People on Tulunanaun island for example have been living underneath piles of rubbish to try and escape the elements so there were particularly in need of shelter."
Aid has also been ferried ashore by HMS Daring's Lynx helicopter. The destroyer will early this week be relieved by HMS Illustrious, which is en route from Singapore carrying 500 tonnes of supplies and seven helicopters.
Justine ********, the International Development Secretary, has been travelling with HMS Daring for part of its trip.
"The whole crew have done an amazing job, they have been taking essential supplies, repairing schools, and transporting medical equipment.
"A week ago 800,000 people were receiving food aid: that number has now reached three million – and that is thanks to efforts of teams like the Navy who are reaching remote, outlying communities."
As has been stated in this post Daring is being relieved by the Illustrious and will probably leave the area.