Among guests invited to a Royal Garden Party to celebrate the centenary of the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) was Island couple Peter and Debbie Hammond from Halfway.

Peter was a member of FAA's helicopter aircrew seeing action in the Falkland Islands and Northern Ireland during his near 25 year long service.

He was awarded the British Empire Medal for gallantry after his role in rescuing two pilots from an aircraft which crashed during an airshow.

The couple moved to Sheppey 20 years ago when he left the FAA and these days he is a pilot coordinator for the Port of London Authority while Debbie works for the prison service on Sheppey.

Peter said before going to the Buckingham Palace party,: "I know that as many people as possible who served in the Fleet Air Arm were being invited to the occasion.

"We're both looking forward to catching up with old friends from those days."