AB&OS is the work of Galf, my alter-ego.
I am Peter Turner, resident of Woodbridge, UK.
Starting out my working life as a draftsman, after failing to find an opening as a cartoonist, I eventually evolved into a freelance consulting engineer, specialising in lighting and elevator design. After a few failed attempts at retirement, I finally left engineering in 2005, when I rediscovered my love for cartooning and soon had my regular AB&OS cartoon strip published in Warships IFR magazine. I realise that some of the jokes in the cartoon strips include 'Jackspeak', so, if you don't understand, or just don't get the joke, you are very welcome to contact me by email at galf@abandos.com or p.t@gmx.com
This website would not exist were it not for the idea, the encouragement and the very productive help from Graham Jupp, a friend who creates and sells fonts and dingbats for computers (and does much else). After being an online friend for some years, it turned out that Graham and Fi and the kids are great hosts (but only for me, not for you – make your own friends!). Please check out Graham’s website www.fontgod.com or use the link. By using fontgod you will not earn me a brass razoo (as Graham puts it – he’s from Oz) but you will reduce my moral debt to him by a smidgeon.
If you are interested in the Sea Miles, etc. page, then check out the link to BWMA, who are striving to remove the criminalisation of traditional imperial measures in the UK, and have a campaign to pardon the three ‘Metric Martyrs’ who still have a criminal record for having used pounds and ounces in preference to metric measures!
Also, if you’re interested in nautical terms, check out the Readers’ Dictionary of Sailing Ship Terms. If you click on the ‘Naval Stuff’ Main Page it will explain the whats and whys of it – or just go straight to the letter you want on a sub-page. But be patient if it hasn’t yet been finished – I’ve only got two pairs of hands!
Visitors to this website may notice the link to Woodbridge Tide Mill. My full-time Wednesday job is as Warden, where you can come and meet me, and my part-time job is as editor of their three-times-a-year (triannual?) digital newsletter, available to all via their website (use the link).
I am also a member of The 1805 Club and of The Society for Nautical Research, and recommend a visit to their websites (see the links) if you like things about maritime history.
Not long ago eminent author, Capt. Peter Hore RN (Rtd), then a senior member of The 1805 Club and a staunch fan of AB&OS, persuaded me that I could write, which resulted in my contributing seven articles to his acclaimed book Nelson’s Band of Brothers. I have also produced maps for this and other of his books. In The 1805 Club I started off with a regular cartoon spot in the Kedge Anchor, which is the six-monthly printed magazine issued exclusively for members, and it led to my becoming the editor of both the Kedge Anchor and its little brother, The 1805 Dispatches, issued online every two months, via the website, to everyone interested (see the link).
In 2021 I produced a printed tribute to HRH the late Duke of Edinburgh, for the Club, which was well received by HM The Queen and other members of the Royal Family.
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If you have enjoyed these cartoons, or the other stuff, please remember that cartoonists are not highly valued in today’s society and that this website has been set up just for fun (non-profit-making, as yet), so you may like to press the button just over there, on the right. If you do, may you be blessed by whatever you want to bless you. Thanks.
