7th September 2007
By popular demand contact details are now not shown. However if someone is noted to be ‘On Parade’ then contact details are available and can be requested by email via this website or the ‘Hone Secretary’ at ‘samweller@90thentry.info’
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THE 90TH DESPATCHES
The Newsletter of the Naughty Nineties
The 90th Entry Society
A Branch of the RAF Halton Aircraft Apprentice Association
Entry Secretary: Philip “Sam” Weller
6 Bramham Moor, Hill Head, Fareham, Hampshire, PO14 3RU
Telephone: 01329-667325 E-Mail: samweller@90thentry.info
Web Site: http://www.90th.info
Issue No 5 – November 2005
Introduction
As we generally have only one Newsletter per year, and as we had one in September, it was initially intended that this Newsletter would only update everyone on contact details and on the choices of dates and venues for two forthcoming events. As we have had a reasonable response to the last Newsletter, the opportunity is taken here to record some of those responses and to discuss longer-term plans.
Responses to Despatches 4
We had an excellent series of responses, eventually, although some needed not only the Newsletter but two or even three reminders (I will not be doing this again in future - you will get only one chance!). We had straightforward e-mail responses. We had “Failed Delivery” responses from some who have clearly changed their e-mail addresses without informing Mike Golding or me, and I accordingly sent snail mail copies of Despatches 4 to them if we had snail mail addresses for them. We had no “Failed Delivery” messages and no responses from some, which may mean that they simply cannot be bothered to respond, as I did send out at least two further reminders that we wanted to hear from them, but I nevertheless sent out snail mail copies of Despatches 4 to those for whom we had snail-mail addresses, after waiting for three weeks for a reply. We have had no responses from some of those for whom we had e-mail only or snail mail only addresses, and there is nothing more which I can do for them. In reaction to all of this, we have now divided our mailing list into two sections: those who are On Active Duty, and those who are On Inactive Duty. We have decided to leave names on the Inactive Duty list until the end of November, to give those on the Active List one more chance to contact any of their mates who are on the Inactive Duty list and chase them up. At the end of November, any names still left on the Inactive List will simply be removed from our mailing and web site lists, to avoid having people wasting time in attempting to contact them, as they are either not interested or the details which we have are wrong, and I cannot afford the time to keep chasing them up, and the Entry Fund cannot afford the costs of sending out repeated snail mail reminders and Newsletters.
We have received a confirmation or updating of contact details from 42 of the 57 members of the 90th Entry whose contact details I obtained from numerous sources, and this is a far better result than I had expected, given the way in which members seem to have been retiring and moving home and changing their e-mail addresses over the past year. If one or more of your mates is/are on the Inactive Duty lists, then it is up to you to try to contact them and get them to contact me as soon as possible. If you know that any of the details on the Inactive Duty list are wrong, even though we have asked for such information before, then please let me know now and I will make more attempts at contacting those involved. If you have the contact details of anyone who is on none of our lists, then please let me know. I do get requests for details of Brats who were the enquirers’ best mates at Halton, but I can only pass on what is on the attached lists. If your best mate at Halton is not on any of our lists, why not attempt to locate him yourself? I also get Brats suggesting all sorts of ways of searching for missing people, such as radio programmes where announcers apparently read out lists of people who are being looked for. If you know of these systems, why not do something for your Entry and use the systems yourself? My time is just as precious as yours (probably more so, as I am older than almost all of you!), so a little help would be very welcome. I will send out another updating list at the beginning of December, with non-responders removed, to let everyone be able to send out seasonal greetings later in that month.
Incidentally, the worst, but eventually honest, excuse that I got for not responding quickly to Despatches 4 was from Crock Branchett. He wrote: “Sorry not to reply earlier, but I've been rather wrapped up in my quest to find a cure for cancer. PS - I made that last bit up.” I will not say who was the last to respond (two days before the deadline) but I will sat that his Brat nickname must be taken as being ironic in its speedy sense!
The 90th Entry Window Dedication
Out of the 37 who responded, 35 wanted the 90th Entry Window Dedication to take place at the RAFHAAA Triennial Reunion in September 2007. This is a sensible decision, as we can at least be sure of gaining access to the church at that event, whereas there is no guarantee for September 2008. I have attempted to gain access to the Garrison Church on two occasions during the past six months, and been denied on both occasions because of security reasons. I hasten to add that I was visiting for purely secular reasons, to try to get a photograph of our Entry Window from inside the church with the afternoon sun shining through it! All we need now is a volunteer to act as our representative at the very short dedication, which is part of the half-hour multi-denominational service which takes place at each Triennial Reunion. Come on now, you Christians, you don’t want an Atheist-Communist representing you! In any case, he is not willing to do it, not only on anti-hypocritical grounds, but on the grounds that even though he does not believe in the supernatural he does not want to risk getting struck by lightning!!
The 90th Entry’s 50th Anniversary Reunion
Out of the 35 who gave specific preferences, we had 22 in favour of the Halton-London area, with 13 in favour of Normandy. We are accordingly going for Halton-London. To confirm this decision, the details of personal choices are given in the On Active Duty list. Although I personally voted for Normandy, having spent far too much time at Halton over the past 50 years, I am perfectly happy to organise a Halton-London event, especially as it involves less work for me than Normandy would have done. I will be fighting at Halton for us to be allowed to visit as many locations as possible. I am assuming that most, if not all, of those who voted for Normandy will now be transferring their Reunion intentions to Halton.
What we need NOW, is some idea of how many people will be taking part in this Reunion. It is appreciated that things may change over the next three years, but we are only asking for an approximate figure at this stage, so that we can look for a suitable-sized hotel, know whether we need a minibus or two coaches for our excursions, and discuss the possibility of group discounts. Please try to be as accurate as possible, even though this is only a provisional booking with no actual commitments at this stage. Let us know the names of who will be in your personal party, and let us know NOW. If you do not respond now, you may find at a later date that we cannot accommodate you in the hotel where the main group is staying, or that we might have had a bigger discount if we had known that we would get more than we bargained for! The point has been raised about who can attend. We do not want to put limits on this, as we know that some of you will be travelling from overseas with junior members of your families, or with wives or lovers (preferably not both), but will junior members be able to put up with all that Brat Slang and constant outbursts of “Do you remember when …..”
There will be much more to decide at a later stage, and we are building a list of suggestions of activities which have been proposed, and we will eventually vote on all of these (even the ridiculous ones!). What we want NOW is the numbers, so please respond NOW, rather than put it off until later and find that you have missed the boat.
We have also been asked about costs and how members will pay. We can only get a rough idea about costs once we have obtained numbers and discussed things with the various venues involved, and at first our estimate must be a guesstimate. Having arranged this sort of things several times a year for the past two decades, with literary groups and military history groups, I know that a major problem occurs with those who make a confirmed booking and then drop out at a later stage. Our method of overcoming this problem is that we will, with about two years to go, collect an initial, non-refundable deposit from everyone who has made a confirmed booking, and issue the advice that everyone should take out travel insurance for the event (this is quite cheap within the UK) if you do not normally have annual travel insurance. One year before the event we will ask for a further, non-refundable deposit, to cover the costs of cancellation on your part. In these ways we will not suffer the problem where people drop out and we lose the bulk discounts which we will have arranged, and where those who do not drop out have to pay extra to make up for the lost discounts. At this stage, however, we are only asking for provisional bookings, with no actual commitments. About three months before the event, all of the outstanding payments will become due.
Other Functions
It has only recently come to my notice that some disappointment (actually, it appears that it was some back-biting bitching!) at the last RAFHAAA Triennial Reunion, about the fact that I did not arrange any hotel accommodation for the weekend of that Reunion. I have also heard that the Entry Reprobate, Bob Heyhoe, did explain to those complaining that I had spent the previous three years working for 16 hours a day, 7 days a week, for 50 weeks of each year, in caring for my terminally ill mother and brother. I am very grateful for that (curses, I will probably now have to buy him a beer or three!), but that is not the crucial point of this situation. There never was any intention of me arranging accommodation for the Triennial Reunions, as those who have been actively involved in the Entry Society will know. We had a vote on this in the survey of the Society which was carried for our 40th Anniversary Reunion. This indicated that there was almost no interest in Annual Reunions, and that there was little interest in weekend events at the Triennial Reunions, with large-scale events being wanted only at the 10th Anniversaries. To prove the point, I organised a mini-weekend to accompany the 2001 Triennial, and we had only three Brats (and their wives) attend! I did, in fact, offer to link all those who were interested in staying on in the Halton area after the 2004 Reunion, and I got a total of nil responses. Those who expect such events to be arranged for them when they finally decide to attend a Triennial Reunion, usually one month or so before such Triennials, seem not to be aware of the fact that those Entries which have Annual Reunions usually book all of the large-scale accommodation in the Halton area at least one year in advance of a Triennial Reunion. This is why we have had to use the Holiday Inn at High Wycombe on two previous occasions, when members have only responded at a very late stage for arranging accommodation. It is, however, a very convenient location for such events, as it is immediately adjacent to Junction 4 on the M40, and therefore close to the M25 for radiating in other directions, with the easy drive from Halton taking only 30 minutes. I will, as previously, be offering to link up all those who wish to stay near Halton on the Saturday evening after each Triennial, and I will remind everyone of this arrangement six months before the Triennial. I am, however, fairly certain that there will not be a big demand for this after the 2007 Triennial, with our 50th Anniversary Reunion being due the next year. If anyone has any comments to make on this point, please let me know, and I will give them a public airing. If anyone wants to organise something special themselves for a Triennial Reunion, then I will gladly provide them with all the help that I can. I am also happy, if there is any dissatisfaction with what I attempt to do, to follow the rôle of the Orderly Officer, electronically, in asking for direct responses to the question: “Any Complaints?”.
90th Entry Fund
As mentioned in the last Newsletter, we had a total of £43.01 left in the Fund. Despatches 4 cost 70p each for photocopying. With seven of our members having snail mail only addresses, and with 14 others having to be sent snail mail copies of the Newsletter when we got no response from their e-mail addresses after three weeks, and with some of those addresses being overseas, it cost us £22.80 to send out Despatches 4, which reduced our fund to £20.21 (sadly, there were none of the 68p 2005 Ashes Test commemorative stamps available for mailings to Australia – alright, so the Poms are keeping them all as very rare souvenirs!). We should reduce that sort of cost with Despatches 5, as we do now have a few more e-mail addresses, but we might still have been bankrupted this time if it were not for the way in which my request for contributions from those receiving snail mails did not totally fall upon stony ground (thanks to Terry Heap and Dave Price for donations – sorry for the embarrassment of being mentioned, but it is only to stir the consciences of the others!). As Terry sent enough to cover Newsletters up until the 60th Anniversary Reunion, I have to say: “Sorry, Chief, not me – I’m on light duties after the 50th do!”. I must also thank Terry again, as he had not been on our mailing list when we were collecting contributions to pay for the Entry Window, and he sent in the £40 which the earlier contributors had each paid. We accordingly now have £70.81 and 30 First Class stamps in the kitty, but I have yet to pay the bills for sending out Despatches 5 (I do not, by the way, charge for all the paper and ink cartridges and other personal expenses used in preparing the Newsletter – just for the photocopying and postage). Incidentally, there is an easy and quick alternative to having snail mail copies of the Newsletter, as demonstrated by Dad Jones, who has his Despatches sent to a mate’s e-mail address in Australia.
Web Site
Mike Golding has been working hard to get the Web Site updated. Please check what’s on it, and also check that your details are correct. If you have anything for the Web Site (lots of members keep promising photographs!), you can contact Mike at his new e-mail address:
<mike@90th.info>
Diamond Geezer Days
From Ray Bird: I can't remember for the life of me, what I was doing on my 60th birthday. Either I was stoned or bored, probably the former. [From Sam: The first possibility is rather worrying, if you check out Dickie’s other note in the next section!]
From Mike Lewis: You asked for Diamond Geezer Days, well, mine was celebrated on the footplate of a steam locomotive at the Kent and East Sussex Railway. The family had booked a day's driving course, as it had been an ambition of mine to be at the controls of a steam engine for many a long day. The only near disaster was that I had been slow in operating the vacuum brakes and just managed to pull up before we passed a signal at danger (SPAD). Just up the line was a set of level crossing gates. Those travelling in the brake van behind, had a nasty shock! Further birthdays, ie 62nd, 63rd and 64th have been spent building a kit car in my garage. The car is a JBA Falcon, which is based on Ford Cortina mechanicals - it looks like an old MG TD model, I doubt if it will be on the road for my 65th birthday, though.
From Paul Nickels: I spent my 6oth birthday in Peru, walking part of the Inca Trail and watching the magnificent condors flying in the Colca Canyon. This year’s birthday was spent walking around my garden, watching sparrows!
From Bob Heyhoe: My 60th came about after a casual chat with the Leslie Phillips of the 90th, that cad and bounder with the double barrelled name, one Denton-Powell. He told me he had done "The Oriental Express" from Singapore to Bangkok, and that it was great. As I had done three years in Singapore on Hunters (I serviced Hoof Proudfoot's "M" for Mike, ready for the Tengah Air Show) and Lightnings. I have a great love for the place, Ann and I had been going every year to Singapore for a holiday, so I arranged a trip to Bangkok with Emirates via Dubai. The first day we caught "The Oriental Express", visited The Bridge over the River Kwai, and the war cemetery at Kanchanaburi. Very disturbing when the first grave was RAF with a six figure number beginning with 58, obviously a Brat, and the next grave was a bloke called Heyhoe - no relation as far as I knew. Had dinner and drank to about 2.00 am, slept overnight. Visited Penang for a tour on the second day, then dinner and more drinking, and passed through Kuala Lumpah in the early hours. Arrived in Singapore just before midday on the third day, a truly brilliant trip. Then had a ten-day stopover in Singapore, seeing the sights and drinking copious amounts of Tiger Beer, and eating some of the best Chinese food available anywhere in the world, then back to Manchester.
From Colin Fricker: I didn't do much on my sixtieth as I recall, but at 63 I just returned from cycling alone from Dieppe to Narbonne Plage, 1175 km the way I went, in 13 days. I'm quite chuffed with that.
From John Barratt: I would love to give you details of how I spent my 60th birthday, but as it was spent at the Jennings Brewery in Cockermouth I can't really remember very much about it. This seems to happen quite a lot these days!
From Flash Burton: My 60th birthday was a family affair, quite an achievement considering the miles they had to travel. The only "blot" was my cousin turning up in the same shirt I was wearing - and no, I didn't change.
Other Personal Snippets
From Ray Bird: If any riggers can remember Cpl Render (I think he was on the airfield phase), I bumped into him a while ago when he was E/O on the "Reds". I was motorcycle instructor to that team for years.
From Charles Collier: I was posted on graduation from Halton as a substantive corporal Airframe Fitter to No 60 MU RAF Church Fenton. This MU was responsible for all 3rd-Line Repair (on-site repair) North of a line drawn between Aberystwyth and the Wash; 71 MU at RAF Bicester looked after 3rd-Line Repair South of that line.
We spent our time travelling around in a Morris J2 to all Northern flying stations. However, on this particular occasion, we were sent to Crosby-in-Eden airfield near to Carlisle where the pilot of an Avro Anson comms aircraft had a problem with the hand-cranked undercarriage - he could not get the "three greens" after winding up the u/c on take off!
Our team comprised a SNCO-in-charge; a Cpl 2 i/c and 3 or 4 J/T's. We duly arrived at the airfield and there waiting for us was a very dapper Sqn Ldr with a typical war time handle-bar moustache. He said that he had arranged for a crane; ground power and trestles in order for our team to do retraction tests and cure the problem. Further, he announced that night accommodation would be in a Carlisle boarding house that he frequently used for non-commissioned service visitors to RAF Carlisle, as his unit was civilian manned - only an Officers Mess existed.
Naturally, we accepted this and the Sgt took the address and map routing so that we could go there after finishing the job. At about 20.30 the job was done. We tidied ourselves up and made for the boarding house where we arrived at about 21.15. The door was opened by a middle aged lady who welcomed us in and proceeded to tell us what was in store for us that night! She said that the 5 of us would be accommodated on camp beds in what was the TV room. This she said was in use by her regular visitors who would watch until close down and the national anthem at about 23.00. She therefore advised us to visit Carlisle and return at 23.00. This we did and on return we noticed people leaving the TV room until it was empty. The lady immediately went into operation erecting camp beds and providing sheets and blankets. She also went to the front bay window and opened this to the half way setting and announced that some of her visitors would make entry through the window after lights out! She then left the room. The Sgt (a Welsh rugby player) said "I am sleeping under this bay window which I am going to jam with this broom handle if any f*****g person gets in through this window he'll get an eyeful from me" holding his fist aloft! We all slept well that night!
The next morning we did necessary ablutions and put on our uniforms and packed our bags. We then walked into breakfast and sat down in the corner allocated to us. We were surrounded couples - all men - young with older men. We then all realised where we were - This was a brothel with rent boys!! We managed to keep a straight face; had our breakfast; quickly vacated the place and drove to the airport. The Sqn Ldr was waiting for us with the aircraft crew. I left the Sgt to do the necessary F700 administration with the crew and remained with the Sqn Ldr who asked me how the accommodation was that he had laid on for us - I had to tell him and I did - he was transfixed! I've never seen a man be so affected by such news. Of course this was 1962 and what was going on was a criminal offence. I suppose the poor Sqn Ldr saw himself as an unwilling partner in the crime. He was appalled and said that he must remove that address from their books.
We left Carlisle for the next assignment but it was not going to be as interesting as that we had just escaped from!!!
From Les Wood: I am now retired from the everyday battle to make a living and existing off my pensions and savings. Like you I have many years of neglect to the house and garden to sort out. My only long term commitment is a holiday in Australia in July/August 2006.
From Norm Allen: I would like the re union to be over a longer time than 3 days (purely selfish on my part as I have no living relatives left in the UK and the dead ones are lousy at conversation). [From Sam: Norm should be an encouragement to all, in that he will be travelling from Australia in order to attend the 50th Anniversary Reunion. This also involves him in getting special permission to be released from the requirement of all males in Australia, between the ages of 3 and 83, to attend cricketing practice every evening and every weekend! Are there any mates of Big Norm out there who might wish to take him home to spread the Reunion over a longer period?]
From Bill Goble: I am still gainfully employed in Switzerland and the end of my current project (for
RAAF) is approaching rapidly - thus plenty of overtime to finish on contracted date.
From Barry Wyatt: Sorry that I have not replied before but I am rather tardy in doing the things I should do. Our email address is still as indicated, but we have now sold our property in Maidenhead so no longer have any financial tie to the UK. Also we have a holiday home (vacation) in Galveston Texas so if any body is in the Houston/Galveston area we could perhaps arrange to meet up. I have no real preference for the location of future events as it would mean an extended trip for me to attend either, but would like to if the wife can get time off work.
Oliver Twist
Now that we have got started on these memoirs, let’s have more. It is amazing how just the odd word, like Colin Fricker mentioning that he was, quite rightly, “chuffed” by his cycling exploit, brought back memories of that word. How many of you drew up a Chuff Chart at some time? I know that the system varied, but the method which I was taught was to divide the number of days done by the number of days to do, so that at the half-way point you had a CF of 1, and at the end you were Chuffed to Infinity! Mike Golding has put an item about RAF Slang on the Web Site, but there was also that special cant from Halton. I got bought my first pint in a real NAAFI, at Gaydon, by a much more senior ex-Brat, when I had asked him the way to “The Tank”. How about sending in some more Halton slang, and I will get a Haltonese Dictionary going? As the A Tech Boots (Drill Instructors) might have said: “Cum on nah, letz be avin yew”! I would normally refrain from using such language when delicate readers like Bob Heyhoe might easily be offended, but I recall that the great Barney Mehan might have said: “Sendit, ohr oyl brayhk a forking leg on ya!”
Conclusion
The next Newsletter will probably be at the end of the year, and it will almost certainly be a very short one, in merely passing on any new contact addresses which we may receive, and in letting everyone know what sort of responses we have had on numbers planning to attend the 50th Anniversary Reunion (make sure that you are included in those numbers, if you want to attend, by responding as required below in the very near future). If you have any comments to make, or any personal snippets to send in, please send them. Do not forget that we will not be sending out loads of reminders in future, so make your responses NOW, before you do forget.
Yours Trenchantly Sam Weller
WHAT YOU NEED TO DO
NOW
1. Send in the names of all those who will be in your personal party at the 50th Anniversary Reunion (this is only a provisional booking, with no commitments at this stage, but do try to be as accurate as possible).
2. Let us know if we have the e-mail and/or snail-mail address which you prefer us to use, NOW.
3. Contact any ex-90th Brats that you know who are not on the Active Duty list, NOW.
4. Send the names of all those who will be in your private party at the 50th Anniversary Reunion, NOW.
5. Let us know if we have the e-mail and/or snail-mail address which you prefer us to use, NOW.
6. Contact any ex-90th Brats that you know who are not on the Active Duty list, NOW.
7. Send the names of all those who will be in your private party at the 50th Anniversary Reunion, NOW.
Get the drift? Do it NOW and you will not forget. Leave it until later and forget it, and you may then find that we have not included you or your missing mate in our arrangements! Please remember that we will not be sending out loads of reminders in future.
PS As I have some spare space here, I might as well use it. I would point out that if you get onto Bob Heyhoe’s e-mailing list you will receive all sorts of entertaining (sometimes shocking – such as the one where he recently announced that he was going to join a biker gang!) snippets from the Internet. Bob is clearly our specialist researcher in this field, but I will mention the excellent new use for the Internet which I discovered last month, which is the technique of Google-Bombing. If you have not experienced it yet, try using the Google Advanced Search, selecting English as the preferred language, and then type in the term “Miserable Failure” and see which is the entirely appropriate source reference which you get as the top web site responding to that term. Google’s tongue-in-cheek apology, in the margin on the same page, on Googleblog, is almost as entertaining!
ACTIVE DUTY LIST
Please note that several of the e-mail and snail-mail addresses in this list have been updated
1. Harvey “Paddy” Allen Unfortunately unable to attend either event – moving overseas
2. Norman Allen London
3. John “Bootsie” Barratt Normandy 15-17 Sep
4. Raymond “Dickie” Bird Normandy 16 -19 Sep
5. Dave “Crock” Branchett London
6. John “Flash” Burton Normandy
7. Ian Butland London
8. Buckland “Buck” Carveth Unfortunately unable to attend
9. Robert “Tim” Cherry London
10. Charles “Chaz” Collier Normandy 15-18 Sep
11. Jesse “Titch” Constant London
12. Frank Denton-Powell London
13. Jim Draper Normandy
14. Colin Fricker No particular preference
15. Norman Gilholm London (if in UK at the time)
16. Bill Goble With majority choice
17. Mike Golding Normandy 15-18 Sep
18. Jim Gordon London
19. Colin “Hank” Hankinson London
20. Terry Heap Normandy 15-17 Sep
21. Bob Heyhoe London
22. Dave Hurst London
23. J J “Dad” Jones London
24. Leo Knaggs Normandy
25. Edward Leiper London
26. John Le May No particular choice
27. Mike “Taff” Lewis London
28. Mike “Chews” Matthews London
29. Derek “Dick” Maughan London
30. Pete “Mac” McClarnon London
31. Howard “Taff” Morgan, No particular choice
32. Jeff Morris London
33. Paul Nickels Normandy 15-18 Sep
34. Al “Old Man” Parker London
35. Dallas “Tex” Payne London
36. Dave Price Normandy
37. Tony Prince London
38. Barry Slater London (but may not be able to attend)
39. Len “Cherry” Springate Normandy any date
40. Philip “Sam” Weller Normandy 15-18 Sep
41. Les Wood Normandy any dates
42. Barry Wyatt No particular preferences, but might attend Reunion
INACTIVE DUTY LIST
Members will remain on this list until they contact us, when they can be moved to the Active Duty List. All the names remaining on this list on 30 Nov 05 will then be deleted
Please check the details of your mates on this list very carefully
If you spot an error, do let me know
HAVE YOU SENT IN YOUR RESPONSE TO THIS NEWSLETTER YET?
You know that a good Brat is expected to think ahead. Do you remember the old
Announcement which used to appear on the block noticeboards every so often?
Blankets will be shaken outside the block at 0730 on Saturday 5 November.
If raining, blankets are to be shaken on the Friday evening instead.
THE 90TH DESPATCHES
The Newsletter of the Naughty Nineties
The 90th Entry Society
A Branch of the RAF Halton Aircraft Apprentice Association
Entry Secretary: Philip “Sam” Weller
6 Bramham Moor, Hill Head, Fareham, Hampshire, PO14 3RU
Telephone: 01329-667325 E-Mail: samweller@90thentry.info
Web Site: http://www.90th.info
Issue No 4 – 16 September 2005
~ Happy 47th Anniversary! ~
Introduction
Welcome to our latest Newsletter, which incorporates all the information which I received at or after the 2004 Triennial Reunion at Halton in September. Please note my own new e-mail address, above, which might be easier to understand than my old address, which was part of the mailing system for the literary society which I run. As you will see, I now have a 90th Entry domain name, which we may develop as required, as I may now have a little extra time available for 90th Entry matters, especially with our 50th Anniversary Reunion in 2008 growing alarmingly closer.
On a personal note, the Memsahib and I would like to thank all those who sent in condolences on the death of my mother, which occurred one week after the Triennial gathering, and on the death of my youngest brother (21 years younger) which took place in March this year. Jane and I spent most of the past three years in keeping my mother and brother going, after the medics had given them only six months to live. We reckon, however, that it will take us at least a year to catch up with all the little jobs around the home which have not received any attention over the past three years. No-one, for example, has been in our back garden for more than two years, so the bushes on each side have met in the middle and grown to a minimum height of 10 feet. Sadly, my neighbours are complaining, and my suggestion that this was my offering for world nature conservancy is no longer being accepted! I would also like to squash any suggestions that I might be spending all of my spare time on 90th Entry activities, as there are still plenty of mountains that I want to climb, and I have been commissioned to write three books over the next two years!
The 90th Entry Window Dedication
The window was installed in time for the Triennial Reunion 2004, although it has not yet been dedicated. There are two possibilities over a Dedication Service. Firstly, we could do the cheap and easy thing, and have the dedication done at the next Triennial Reunion, in 2007. Alternatively, w could have the service during our 50th Anniversary Reunion in September 2008. The second choice is only possible, of course, if we have that Reunion in the London-Halton area (see below), instead of in the alternative option, which is in Normandy. Please let me know which dating of window dedication you would prefer. If I get no strong support for any other date, then it will be September 2007.
The 90th Entry Window
I had been warned that stained-glass windows never turn out the way that you want them. I had to accept the original plan being simplified greatly, in order to gain some impact from the design, and because of the tall, thin nature of the window slot. I also had to include something to link our window with something historical occurring during our time at Halton. As mentioned in the last Newsletter, I incorporated the Tree of Knowledge from the No 1 S of TT crest with the mushroom cloud of an H-Bomb explosion (with the RAF receiving its first operational ‘H-Bomb’ during the month when we first arrived at Halton, and with the added piquancy of the popular Bomber Command acronym of KITDAFOHS ). At the last Triennial it transpired that some of those present did not know what this acronym stood for. It is a description of groundcrew and mushrooms in the nuclear bomber era: Kept In The Dark And Fed On Horse Shit! Fortunately, the Halton Padre does not seem to have known of this added meaning when he approved the window design, nor did he spot the appropriate 90th Entry association with the fact that the Tree of Knowledge is also The Tree of Original Sin in Eden! Ah, the advantages of having been an Aetheist, and of having had Padre Warner forcing me to read The Bible whilst I was waiting in the foyer for everyone else to come out of the church on the monthly, compulsory Church Parades. George Bush, and similar fundamentalist cretins, would certainly have approved of Padre Warner!
All those I spoke to at Halton were pleased with the window, even though we did not see it in its best light, as it was a cloudy day. As soon as possible I will get a decent photograph, with background sunlighting, and publish it in the Newsletter. In the meanwhile, you will just have to put up with the drawing which was done for it (the real thing has more flames at the base of the H-Bomb explosion, and the plan view of the Vulcan is better).
90th Entry Window Funding
As several members of the 90th Entry Society were unable or unwilling to contribute towards paying for the window I had accepted that I would have to pay any deficit, and several other members also kindly offered to make up the difference. When we had to find a new window manufacturer we actually got a better deal than that for which we had originally calculated the donations, and so we found that we did have sufficient funds to pay for the window in full. We accordingly now have the sum of £43.01 left in The 90th Entry Fund, which will be used to cover any small expenses which may occur in running the society. We do not, for example, have to pay for the Newsletter to be sent out to those for whom we have an e-mail address, but we do have to pay where we have to send the Newsletter out by snail mail. If you receive your Newsletter by snail mail, you might like to consider sending a small donation to help keep our funds in the black. If you joined us after the money for the window (£40 per head) was collected, then you might wish to consider making a general donation to “The 90th Entry Fund” to help build up a small contingency fund (if there are no suitable contingencies, it can always go behind the bar at the 50th Anniversary .
50th Anniversary Reunion
It is now time for us to make a firm decision as to where we want to have our 50th Anniversary Reunion. Yes, we know that it is still three years away, but venues need to be checked and provisional costings investigated. Previous discussions of this event came up with two major alternatives.
a. Monday 15 - Wednesday 17 September 2008. Two nights in an hotel somewhere between London and Halton. It would be possible to have an early dinner on the 15th, with a coach trip to a London show in the evening. There could be a visit by coach to Halton on 16th, and to other tourist locations (such as the RAF Museum at Hendon), with the anniversary dinner in the hotel in the evening and a departure the following morning. The major disadvantage here is that I have been formally informed that with the current security situation, which is unlikely ever to change in the future, we would not be allowed to visit any of the buildings or other locations at Halton, other than the Garrison Church. We would only be allowed to drive through Halton on the public roads, and there is no possibility of visits to the Henderson/Groves parade ground and accommodation areas, or to Schools, Workshops or the Airfield (these can only be visited now on formal RAFHAAA reunions, and there is no such reunion in 2008).
b. Tuesday 16 – Thursday 19 September 2008 or Monday 15 – Wednesday 18 September 2008. A three-night trip to Normandy (from Portsmouth), with one night and dinner on the ferry each way, and the anniversary dinner either on the ferry or at the one-night stay in a French hotel.
Obviously, many of those who attend the regular RAFHAAA Reunions every three years wanted something different for the 50th anniversary, especially as we will not be able to see much of Halton on this occasion, as the only way in which you can see Halton properly these days is on one of the RAFHAAA Reunions. We need to have your choice now, and we will let you know the majority choice when we send out an updated mailing list in November 2005.
The New Web Site
Mike Golding has been working hard to get the web site up to date. In doing so he has obtained a more-easily recognisable web site address, which is:
http://www.90th.info
At present the old web site still seems to be on-line. Please ignore it and remove it from your Favourites list, as the out of date material on it could cause confusion. Please check your details in the Brats section of the web site and let Mike know if anything is wrong. His e-mail address is:
michael.golding@virgin.net
Diamond Geezer Days
In response to Frank Denton-Powell’s suggestion in the last Newsletter that some members might provide details of how they spent their 60th birthdays I received a rush of one response (no, it actually was not from Frank – hint, hint!), so I am stuck with giving you the one which I did receive, and my own.
Mike Golding took a Rally Driving Course, and said that the speed involved was truly exhilarating. Mike has been an Advanced Driving Instructor, and he is proud that many of his students have received the award which goes to successful students, although he admits that he is less proud of the fact that he does not always practice what he preaches! I think that he took on a far more dangerous and testing challenge in becoming the father of a daughter at the age of 58!! Just think; he is going to be 75 when she starts going out with blokes who were our age when we were Brats!!
My two kids (currently aged 44 and 42) and my two grand-daughters (currently aged 18 and 17, so I know something of the problems which Mike will experience, albeit at one generation distance) offered me a commercial catalogue of adventure experiences, but I had done most of those which they could afford, so I did a refresher parachute course and got five jumps in on my birthday (yes, I realise that this leaves the situation open for Bob Heyhoe to tell us how many jumps he had on his 60th birthday!). The experience which we could not afford (£30,000!), which was the one that I really wanted, was a flight to a height which is officially classified as being “in space”, in a Mig 29 (ditto for Heyhoe telling us how high he got on his 60th birthday!).
Come on, now, lads, I have heard some of you relating what you did on your 60th birthdays at the reunions, and they were all very interesting and sometimes exotic experiences, so let’s hear from you in writing (crayon acceptable from ex-aircrew!).
Other Membership Personal Snippets
My thanks for those who sent in material. Now that we have started with this, we hope that more will be encouraged to send in some details.
Harvey “Paddy” Allen. Harvey commented on how many Paddies we had in the Entry, and remarked on the way in which he seems to be the only one who is on the mailing list (any disagreements here?). Harvey did not meet up with any of his 90th countrymen during his service career. He did, however, meet up with Danny Haughey during his civilian career, with Danny being a Flight Engineer on a 747 with JAL in Singapore. Harvey still has his home in Dumphries, as his wife will be remaining in residence there until she retires in two years’ time. Harvey, however, has moved back to The Old Country, where he has bought a couple of acres of forest in Omagh, cleared an area in a remote glen, and built an Irish Gothic style house which he is still working on.
Barry Wyatt. Barry still owns his old Berkshire residence, but he is now resident in McKinney, Texas, USA, and he would welcome a visit by any Armourers (and any mere mortals from the rest of the Entry!) who may be visiting that area. Having spent three years as a missionary on loan to HQ Strategic Air Command in Nebraska, lecturing at each of the SAC bases in rotation, I fully appreciate how much one misses non-materialistic culture and intelligent company in the States!!
You may notice that, in addition to the USA, we have members in Canada, France and Germany, and we also have six living in the land of the team which came second in the Ashes series this year!
Membership Updates
We welcome several new members. As you will see, with some of these we have only been given the e-mail addresses, so we would like to get the snail mail addresses for these. We seem to have lost contact with Eric Gillman, who is still registered as a member of the RAFHAAA. The copy of the last issue of the RAFHAAA journal was sent out to Eric’s last-known address, but was returned as ‘not known’. Does anyone have details of what must have been a very recent address change?
All the snail-mail and e-mail address updates which I have received have been incorporated into the listing at the end of this Newsletter. Where I have been given alternative or conflicting e-mail addresses I have sent this Newsletter to both addresses, and I ask everyone to check the list below and let me know which one you want me to use. As always, if you see an address which you know is wrong, please let me have the update. Mike Golding has updated the details on the 90th Entry Web Site, so you might also check these. I have sent hard copies of this Newsletter to all those for whom we do not have e-mail addresses. At the end of October I will be producing an updated listing of addresses, and I will send this out to everyone who responded to this Newsletter in early November. If you do not respond by the end of October, then you will be removed from the mailing list.
Sorry to have to whinge here, but I do keep asking for information on missing 90th Brats, and Members do keep telling me that they know the contact details of missing Brats, but nothing then happens. Only you can help here. Make sure that everyone from the 90th that you know is on our listing, and that their details are correct (if they are not correct, please let me know – if you don’t do this, then we might end up with no-one else doing it, and that person may then be removed from our listings). We do need to get as many as possible on our mailing list for our 50th Anniversary event. Yes, I know that it is three years away, but the sooner we get in contact with those who are AWOL, the better we can plan things. If you sent me details for someone and their name is not in our listing, then that means that I got no reply from them, and that I gave up after two attempts, so you may need to get back to them. If you attempted to get someone to join up and their name is not on the list, then you may need to get back to them. As a famous criminal once almost said: “Ask not what your Entry Secretary can do for you, but what you can do for your Entry.” If one of your Oppoes, whose address is known to you, is missing from our November listing, then that is, primarily, either his fault or yours!
Actions Required From You
1. Please make a note of my ‘new’ (it changed in 2004) e-mail address if you still have my old one.
samweller@90thEntry.info
2. Please make a note of the new 90th Entry web site address.
http://www.90th.info
3. If you receive this Newsletter by e-mail, please send me an e-mail response as soon as possible, thus confirming that you have received this Newsletter. If you received this by snail mail, please respond as soon as possible. If you do not do it now and then forget, then you may well not be hearing from me again, as I will assume that the address which I have for you is no longer operational and I will accordingly remove it from the official mailing list at the end of October 2005.
4. Please let me know if you know the e-mail and/or snail mail addresses of any ex-90th Entry mates who are not on the address listing below.
5. Please let me know if you have a more-recent e-mail or snail mail addresses for any 90th Brats who are on the list below.
6. If you think that you may be able to discover the e-mail or snail mail address of any other ex-90th Entry Brats, please do your best to do this, and then pass on the details to me.
7. Please let me know whether you want a 90th Entry Window Dedication Service at Halton:
September 2007.
September 2008 (but also see point 8).
We will make the decision in accordance with the majority of those who respond, so please do not moan later if we are not doing what you want if you have not responded.
8. Send in your preference for the 50th Anniversary Reunion venue:
London-Halton – 15-17 september 2008.
Normandy 16-19 September 2008.
Normandy 15-18 September 2008.
We will make the selection at the end of October, in accordance with the majority choice of those who respond, so do not waste your vote.
Cheers Sam
Remember that if I have not heard from you, or from someone on the mailing list whose address you know is wrong, by the end of October,
then you and/or the person whose address is wrong will be removed
from the updated mailing list which will be sent out early in November
RAF SPEAK – GETTING THE MESSAGE OVER
Recently there has been a lot of criticism regarding common expressions and jargon and how it corrupts understanding. I disagree, to any ex airforce guy, the following is crystal clear:
“In the wartime Royal Air Force, Joe Soap, the fitter who was as dim as a Toc H lamp and often on jankers for dropping the proverbial clanger and who was frequently invited to close the hangar doors due to his predilection for talking shop but was adept at getting his feet under the table, having risen from his
reesty pit after inadequate blanket drill, with a mouth like the bottom of a birdcage, as it were, so to speak, to coin a phrase and perhaps having just received a Dear John, might have scoffed and rinsed his irons to the nth degree in accordance with current procedures, only to hear Chiefy calling for a two-six on G-Golf to turn into wind and run up the donks now the gremlins had scarpered from the starboard inner and resulted the kite being on top line.
All of this before partaking of tea and a wad, probably a Nelson, from the NAAFI wagon and in spite of the fact that the stationmaster had scrubbed local sorties.
The current gen was probably that Mary, the station bike, with her proclivity for frequent horizontal PT had finally been less than clever with her passion killers and was up in front of the Queen Bee and due to get her ticket since she’d found herself in the club.”
Priceless, What say you?
Dear Fellow Brats
It has been some time since I have had the free time to get a Newsletter
together and contact you. As some of you will know, my memsahib, Jane,
and I were lumbered more than two years ago with providing a minimum of
16 hours per day of home care for my mother and my youngest brother,
both of whom were terminally ill, and both of whom were given less than
a year to live. We were refused full-time nursing financing because
neither member of my family wanted to go into a hospice. The extra care
which they have received at home seems to have been successful, in that
they are both still alive. Jane and I have, however, had to cut back on
our social activities, and the much-needed holidays which we have had
have been extremely expensive because of the extra, professional,
commercial nursing which we have had to pay for whilst we have been
away. Fortunately, most of my duties have been night-time monitoring
duties, so I have been able to continue with my historical and literary
researches during the long nights, and the books which I have written
have helped to pay for our holidays.
Over the past week, my mother and my brother have been in hospital, so
this has allowed me the time to catch up with lots of outstanding
personal commitments, and the attached Newsletter is one of the results
of this. I have managed to keep things like our long-term Entry Window
Project ticking over nicely over the past year, but I have been
reluctant to devote much more time to Entry matters, especially with the
almost-total lack of support which I have received in terms of
Newsletter contributions, ideas for activities, offers of help, etc.
The approaching Triennial Reunion at Halton, however, does provide us
with an opportunity for getting together again, without too much effort
on my part, and I am therefore looking forward to the possibility of
seeing many of you again next month (yes, even Heyhoe!). We may also be
able to celebrate something very special as an Entry at that gathering,
as you will see in the Newsletter.
Although I have stressed the point in the Newsletter, I will start the
thought process here by pointing out that there may well be members of
The 90th Entry Society who have changed their e- or snail mail addresses
recently, and who will therefore not have received this Newsletter.
There is a listing of all of the e- or snail mail addresses to which
this Newsletter has been sent. Please check this list and if you know
of anyone who may not have received this Newsletter, please forward a
copy of the Newsletter to them, as I may well not get the time to do
this quickly, even if you send me their new details. Remember that if
the person involved has an e-mail address listed, then the Newsletter
will have been sent only to that e-mail address. If they are at the
same snail mail address but have changed their e-mail address, then they
will not have received this Newsletter. I am relying on you checking
that all of your muckahs have been contacted. Do please confirm your
receipt of this Newsletter, even if it is just with a short note, as I
will be deleting your details from the address listings if I do not hear
from you by the end of September, so please confirm receipt now, so that
you do not forget.
Yours Trenchantly
Sam Weller
THE 90TH DESPATCHES
The Newsletter of the Naughty Nineties
The 90th Entry Society
A Branch of the RAF Halton Aircraft Apprentice Association
Entry Secretary: Philip “Sam” Weller
6 Bramham Moor, Hill Head, Fareham, Hampshire, PO14 3RU
Telephone: 01329-667325 E-Mail: samweller@90thentry.info
Web Site: http://www.90th.info
Issue No 3 – August 2004
Introduction
This issue of Despatches is being distributed primarily to update everyone on the Entry Window and to remind everyone about the Triennial Reunion at Halton this autumn. We are pointing out some changes which have occurred since the last issue of Despatches was published, and making some suggestions about you getting involved in this Newsletter. There is also some news about changes at Halton.
The Window
With a great deal of arm twisting, and in spite of some refusals, but because of some stalwarts contributing extra (one patriotic member sent £90!), we did eventually manage to get enough money together to go ahead with ordering a window. We had problems when our intial order for a window was cancelled, as the ex-Brat who was making the window was taken ill and ceased working on windows, but at least we did not lose any money in this situation.
We have now been through all of the technical processes for getting our intended design made practicable, and for having the design approved by the RAFHAAA, and by the DOE, and by the Padre. We were forced to come up with something additional to our basic design of a Vulcan with our Entry number and dates, as the Window Committee wanted us to have something which links us historically to something which happened during our time at Halton. The Padre turned down my suggestion about a picture of the Station Church in Workshops burning to the ground, even though I did mention that it might possibly have been an Act of God! I eventually came up with a pair of small frames in the window, containing items which almost match each other in outline shape: the Tree of Knowledge of the No 1 S of TT crest, and a nuclear mushroom cloud. The military historical reason for the latter is that during the week when we first arrived at Halton the RAF received its first operational Hydrogen Bomb. It also signifies, in a way which the Padre, fortunately, did not appreciate, the concept of KITDAFOHS!
We are hoping that the window will be installed in time for the Triennial Reunion at Halton in September 2004, especially as this will save me having to try to organise a separate function for the Dedication Service for the window, as several new windows are already being dedicated in September. We hope that this will encourage you to be present at the Triennial Reunion (see below).
Window Project II
There should be a small surplus in the Window Fund, when we have cleared all of the bills, and there is a way in which we could use this to contribute to a permanent link with our window, rather than fritter it away on a few beers each for those attending a function. Most of our members will be aware that the Vulcan to the Sky Project is hoping to fly their Vulcan (XH558) next year. I have been working with this Project for many years, and we managed to collect hundreds of thousands of Pounds to have the aircraft surveyed and to produce a highly technical bid for money from The Lottery Fund. We have recently received almost £3 Million from The Lottery Fund, but we need to find a further £500,000 as a personal contribution to be able to receive the Lottery grant. The aircraft will have a regular flying display programme for several years, and it will tour the UK with an exhibition on The Cold War. When this aircraft is retired from flying, it will be restored and put on display at The Imperial War Museum site at Duxford, as it is a better sample than the one currently at Duxford. We can, as an Entry, become an Associate Member of the Vulcan to the Sky Project, and thus maintain a permanent link with this aircraft. If we do not have sufficient money left in the Window Fund after we have paid all the window bills, then I will agree personally to pay the difference to obtain Associate status.
This is only a proposal, and it is up to the members of The 90th Entry Society to decide on what we should do with any surplus from the Window Fund. If you have any alternative ideas on how we might spend any Window Fund surplus, then I will be glad to receive them. I will send out a listing of proposals received at the end of August, and you can then vote on your choice, either by e-mail or by snail mail, with the voting closing on 20 September, so that I can announce the decision at the Triennial Reunion. A simple majority decision will be made, from those who vote, so do not complain if you do not vote and we end up with something which you do not like!
The Triennial Reunion
The 2004 Reunion will take place on Saturday 25th September. Car parking will be on the sports fields, on the left at the end of the main road from Main Point travelling towards the Airfield.
Once again, the organisers have, sadsly, refused to allow wives and girl friends (and especially not both!) to take part in the Airfield phase of the Reunion. Arrangements are being made for ladies to take a circulating bus tour which will let them visit The Officers’ Mess and the RAFHAAA Museum and the Garrison Church (tea and soggies on sale here). Those ex-Brats in a wheelchair, however, can be accompanied by a male or female relative or friend helper on the Airfield.
Alternatively, as with previous Reunions, the ladies can form a car convoy to visit Waddesdon Manor and/or The Retail Outlet Centre near Bicester, or wherever else they wish. If you wish to take advantage of this opportunity, please meet in the corner of the car parking field closest to Halton village at 1015, so that car-sharing can be arranged.
The main events on the Airfield will start at 1030, in the first hangar on the left after you enter the Airfield. There are various displays here, and we can form a thicket at the assembly board marked “90”. With the model aircraft display this year we are promised an even larger flying model than we had with the magnificent Beverley of recent years, with a B52! There will be the usual displays, band bash, bar, and we are promised that the problems with lunch will all be overcome this year, with a de luxe catering firm providing high quality food (cook’s test jobs again!) without lengthy queues. Hmmmm!
At 1430 we will march to the Garrison Church (next to Schools) where we can be rejoined by the ladies at 1445. You can then attend the church service and window dedication or you can visit Schools. At 1545 we will form up outside Workshops and march to the Henderson Parade Ground for a short sunset ceremony and dispersal. A bus will be provided at the Airfield and at the Garrison Church for those with mobility problems. The Bar will remain open in the 1 Wing Tank until early evening, and you may be able to visit a barrack block (some masochists have paid good money to stay in one of the barrack blocks and have breakfast this year – we hope that they will be made to wash up their mugs and irons in a tank of scalding, greasy water!).
Participation in the Reunion during the Airfield phase is, this time, strictly restricted to members of the RAF Halton Aircraft Apprentice Association only (plus care helpers), so if you are not already a member you need to join as soon as possible. Forms can be obtained by snail-mailing (with SAE) or e-mailing: The Membership Secretary, RAFHAAA, The Airfield, RAF Halton, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, HP22 5PG; E-Mail <rafhaaa@aol.com> You can join at the Airfield gate office on the day, but there are always long queues of those who have left things until the last minute, and you may well miss the initial gathering of the 90th and model flying display. I suggest that you apply now, as the volunteer staff at the RAFHAAA get very busy with other arrangements after the end of August.
Let’s make this an all-out effort this year. Please make sure that all of the other ex-90th Brats that you know are aware of this, as there is not much time left for me to contact those who may have moved since our last gathering.
Address Changes
If you know of any changes in postal addresses and/or e-mail addresses for those listed in the listing given at the end of this Newsletter, please let me know. Please also double check that you have my new e-mail address (the ‘acd-221b.info’ personal domain is derived from the two literary societies which I run, with a current combined members of around 650 in 42 countries, with one being the Arthur Conan Doyle Study Group and the other being the 221B Sherlock Holmes Study Group).
Multi-Entry Memberships
We did include Rob Worthington on our AWOL listing last time, but he has contacted me and informed us that as he spent most of his time with the 91st Entry his allegiances are with them. On that point, Jim Draper started with us and spent most of his time with the 91st, but he has asked to be kept on the books of the Mighty Ninety, even though he works hard as the Secretary of the 91st.
The Missing 90th Entry Banner
It will be recalled by those who were at the last Triennial Reunion that we had no Entry Banner for the march up the hill, as someone had “borrowed” it during our 40th Anniversary Reunion Dinner in High Wycombe. It was posted back to me from Central London, shortly after the last Triennial Reunion, with no sender details, so we do thank the mysterious borrower for returning it.
Any Complaints?
1. I did get two complaints, expressed in different ways, suggesting that it was unfair that any money left over from the Window Fund should be used to pay the costs of printing and mailing copies of Despatches to those members of the Society who were not on e-mail. It was suggested that those who receive snail mail copies should pay specifically for this. I would firstly point out that I did not make the suggestion that any money left over from the Window Fund would be used in this way, as that suggestion came from one of those who sent in money for the Window Fund before I asked for money to be sent in. I specifically stated that I would pay the costs of snail mail copies if necessary, as I was not willing to waste my life away trying to collect money from those tightwads who were not immediately willing to pay for what they get (having already wasted a lot of my life trying to do that sort of thing in collecting Squadron Tea Fund contributions from Aircrew - “Sorry, Chief, but I never carry cash in my flying kit”!). I did also suggest that those who received snail mail copies might send in an extra donation to help cover the costs involved, and almost all of those involved did this (many thanks). If the others can live with their consciences, I will pay for them! Any Window Fund contributions which are not spent on the Window will be used solely for Window-associated purposes, and we have a proposal on this above. Those who kindly sent more than the requested £40, are thanked for helping out with repaying the money which I paid in the past for postage and printing costs for everyone in the Society who did not send in a contribution, and for those who were not at the addresses to which I sent mail without repayment, before we started to e-mail copies of Despatches to most of our members I have now recovered all of those overdue costs. Many thanks to those involved.
2. I did, almost inevitably, get complaints about the choice of the Vulcan for the Entry Window. I did give my own justifications for this choice, and the vast majority of those who responded did choose the Vulcan, with the final figure being 72 %. The only possible solution here was to resort to Democracy, and that humanly imperfect system does, of course, often mean that the minority does not get what it wants. But then, as one of the four intelligent Americans from the last century (H L Mencken) once said: “Democracy is the principle that the people know what they want, and that they deserve to get it, good and hard”! Sorry, that was, of course, a flattering error: for ‘four’, read ‘three’, as one of the four first thought of wisely moved and became a British citizen, being a man who clearly accepted the subsequent proposed answer to the following question: “What is the difference between a yogurt and the USA?” - “You can develop a culture in a yogurt.”!
3. I did get one mildly-expressed complaint, from an Agnostic, commenting ironically on the choice of a church window as a memorial to the 90th Entry. He did, however, pay his full contribution! I, in turn, pointed out that it is even more of an ironic state that an Atheist has collected the money and arranged for the production of that church window!! This did bring back memories of that Slightly-to-the-Right of Genghis Khan C of E Padre we had, (Warner by name) who would award extra drill to those not behaving in the way that he thought appropriate during Padre’s Hour, and who prevented me from changing my religion for more than a year, and who made me write an essay each month to prove that I was serious in my convictions and not just trying to skive out of Church Parades! Almost inevitably, changing my religion did not get me off Church Parades, as I ended up doing all the odd jobs in support of the parades. Try doing that sort of thing in the modern RAF, where you would have your trainee turning up with a lawyer! The window is, by the way, not just a memorial to the 90th, but part of a larger memorial to all Apprentices, as almost all of the first 100 Entries now have windows.
Future Issues of Despatches
We have now, thankfully, got most of the administrative and financial arrangements sorted out for the Society, and we would like in future to have a greater emphasis on personal news and views and recollections, although we will, of course, have updates on forthcoming gatherings, addresses, etc. Frank Denton-Powell has suggested that it might be interesting to record how some of us spent our 60th birthdays (I look forward to receiving his offering!). Why not let us know how you spent your Big Day (or Days!)? Will it beat the way in which I surprised my memsahib, Jane, on her 50th birthday, when I took her to Rome, where we stayed in a convent in the Vatican for a week and where we were invited to participate in the weekly audience with The Pope (not bad for an atheist!)? Alright, I have no doubt that Bob Heyhoe will now write in and say that he spent his 60th birthday in a convent without his wife!
If you have any other personal accounts which might be of interest to fellow-members, do send them in. Did you do any unusual tours of duty or detachments during your time in the Royal Aerial Farce? What was the most outrageous event in your service career? Have you found some intriguing ways of whiling away your retirement years? Do you have copies of any of those epic poems or letters which told the truth about what life in the RAF was really like. I think I recall someone at a reunion (Dallas Payne?) claiming that he had learned the one about the Sons of Aden arriving at the Pearly Gates by heart. I also remember getting a form letter from Johnny Barratt warning me about the behaviour to expect from those who were about to return to the UK after finishing a tour in Cyprus, involving people jumping off their pits and setting fire to the bedding, and the suggestion that the only safe way to awaken them was to whisper the word “Keo” in their ears. There was an excellent one from someone in Singapore, explaining why Snoops still wore their gaiters when they were in shorts, with a listing of what the average Snoop kept in his gaiters (including, inevitably, numerous cans of Tiger)! Mention of Snowdrops, of course, revives one of those nice little picture-memories at Halton, whenever we marched across Main Point in a rain storm, with the white blanco from the hat of the Snoop on traffic duty dripping down his raincoat (things started to go downhill with Snoops when they gave them the plastic tops, and waterproof coverings for their hats!).
It would be appreciated if you could send me your contributions electronically (I use Word on Windows XP, but I can cope with most PC word processing packages), by e-mail or on disc. Alternatively, please send the material in typed form and I will scan it. Come on now, you have heard more than enough from me, so let’s be hearing from YOU!
All Change at Halton
Surely we all feel that something is wrong at Halton, now that it does not cater primarily for Apprentices (there now being no Apprentices in the RAF, in spite of the government promoting the benefits of apprenticeships!). No-one could argue against the claim that it was one of the finest educational institutions in the world when it was, essentially, No 1 School of Technical Training. It may come as a shock, then, to hear that in the near future it will be used for training not only RAF personnel, but for Fish-Heads and Pongoes, and that it will be upgraded to the status of a Defence College, even though the levels of training being provided will not be anything like as high or as long as those provided by the old ‘School’. These changes, which will be mirrored at training establishments for all three services across the country, were obviously decided before the recent public announcement of further cut-backs in the services, with the RAF soon to be reduced to only 40,000 personnel. We are surely getting back to the days of that wonderful old joke told to us on numerous occasions by the ‘old sweats’, about them not having service numbers when they joined, as everyone knew everyone else in the RAF in those days. Memories of the good old days can be revived, however, with a visit to the RAFHAAA Museum, in the old gym on Henderson Parade Ground, which will be open during the Triennial Meeting. This was good at the time of the last Triennial, but it has been greatly improved since then. Most of you will have seen the magnificent ‘Test Job’ Memorial outside of Schools, and an extra service is now available with this memorial. Several ex-ex-Brats have recently had their ashes scattered here, with a short service being provided by the Padre. The Secretary asked that anyone one wanting this service should book it had been with the Padre, as some friends of ex-ex-Brats had apparently arranged DIY memorial services, with one group having dumped the ashes in a pile which had then been soaked with rain and formed a solid cone which subsequently stalled the grass-cutting machine! At the 2004 RAFHAAA AGM, when this service was announced, someone asked if he had to book early for the service, as he wasn’t feeling too good!
Conclusion
You now have all the gen which I have. If you have anything else, please send it in. If you would like to contribute to the next Newsletter, we will be glad to hear from you. If you have any queries, please ask. We look forward to seeing most of you at the Triennial Reunion on 25 September 2004 at Halton, and to the possibility of us having our window at last.
Please send in an immediate confirmation that you have received this
Newsletter, so that we can know which of our contact addresses are correct.
If you do not respond, then you will not hear from us again until you do contact us, so we suggest that you do it straight away, before you forget and get missed on the next mailing. You can keep it short and only say whether you will be at the Reunion at Halton or not, although you can say more if you wish.
Cheers Sam
LATEST CONTACT DETAILS RECEIVED
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Harvey Allen
John “Bootsie” Barratt
Raymond “Dickie” Bird
John “Flash” Burton
Ian Butland
Robert “Tim” Cherry
Charles Collier
Jesse Constant, Trevia
Frank Denton-Powell
Jim Draper
Colin Fricker
Bill Goble
Mike Golding
Jim Gordon
Chris Greening
Richard “Bob” Gulliver
Colin “Hank” Hankinson
Terry Heap, L’Etacq
Bob Heyhoe
Dave Hurst
J J “Dad” Jones
Leo Knaggs
John Le May
Mike “Taff” Lewis
Derek “Dick” Maughan
Pete McClarnon
John “Max” Miles
Howard “Taff” Morgan
Jeff Morris
Paul Nickels
Al “Old Man” Parker
Dallas “Tex” Payne
Tony Prince
Barry Slater
Len “Cherry” Springate
Phil Sprinks
Stuart “Jock” Stark
Mick Tilley
Philip “Sam” Weller
Bob Wilson
Les Wood
Barry Wyatt