Top award for Yeovilton snapper

A SAILOR based at Royal Naval Air Station Yeovilton has won a prestigious photographic award after taking a stunning picture of the Commando Helicopter Force on exercise in Norway.

Petty Officer Julian “Mez” Merrill, 42, took the photograph of the Sea King helicopter hovering in snowy conditions while on a cold-weather training exercise in northern Norway earlier this year.

He put forward the image to the annual Peregrine Trophy awards – and has now been chosen as the winner of the Royal Navy’s Maritime Air Prize category.

Mez, who joined the Royal Navy in 1987 as a junior seaman operator, transferred to the elite photographic branch in 2000 and currently works with Commando Helicopter Force at RNAS Yeovilton.

He said: “I am absolutely delighted to have won the RN Maritime Air Prize Image award – it means a lot to me to have my work recognised in this way.

“I have a real passion for photography and working alongside CHF gives me a unique opportunity to take images across the world in unusual locations.”

The annual Peregrine Trophy awards are designed to recognise excellence among both the professional Royal Navy and Royal Marine photographers and amateurs.

This year the awards were held at the Royal College of Art in London – with the winners congratulated by the First Sea Lord Admiral Sir George Zambellas.

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