City of London) Squadron Rauxaf Association Newsletter
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600 Praeter Sescentos “THE RIGHT OF THE LINE” 600 (City of London) Squadron RAuxAF Association Newsletter Patron: The Viscount Trenchard of Wolfeton Affiliated Members; 601 & 604 Squadron Associations. Patron: The Viscount Trenchard of Wolfeton June 2012 Editorial Welcome to the summer 2012 edition. Well, 2012 is as well all know a VERY big year in the UK. By the time you read this the main Queens Diamond Jubilee celebrations up and down the country will have passed and we will be gearing up for the Olympics being hosted in London, just a matter of weeks away now. The web site is now receiving growing numbers of hits and especially, has prompted both some enquiries and some guestbook comments – all good stuff. We have a good deal of material to place up onto the site and this will start to appear over the coming weeks as John our Web Master tackles it in between everything else he has to do, but please do keep it coming in. Specific areas of interest remain your photos and documents, all 600, 601 & 604 Squadron specific, especially for the war years where 600 Squadron especially has a huge black hole. Many of you have given some truly wonderful material, which is really generous and oh so helpful, but we need more please. I also need more of your anecdotes and short stories please. Your memories, humorous or serious are actually really interesting and of great interest to readers. In the last edition, I made an appeal for you to consider us for your donations, bequeaths upon your demise - it’s a raw ole subject, but one that will ultimately come to all of us, so excuse me for asking, but this is what will preserve our Association and your material – for this is our legacy. I therefore have run the same article again as a reminder. This Month has seen the AGM where we appointed a new Treasurer following the much loved and already missed John Wilding who has finally opted for a quieter life. We wish you a happy retirement John and an immeasurable thank you for so many years of dedicated service to the Association. BIG shoes to follow, but we would like to welcome Sgt. Ian Walton into the role and wish him every success. Ian is currently still serving on the Squadron but approaching retirement. We also welcome Tom Melling onto the Committee who some of you may know. Tom also enjoyed a very successful career on the Squadron, but more about Ian and Tom later in the Newsletter. All other Committee position remained the same. Andy 1 600 Squadron Association News In December 2011 the Association launched the new web site. The new site hosts a full and ever growing history of 600, 601 & 604 Squadrons with a growing & impressive gallery of photographs, some of which many people will not have seen. The Association newsletters are posted onto the web site along with back issues. In addition, we have an extensive links page, a guest book, an events diary and a news section & pages dedicated to membership & fundraising. Remember, this is YOUR Association, so do tell us what you like, what you don’t like and any ideas you have – and, as ever, PLEASE keep your material coming in for both the newsletter and now the web site. As usual, huge thanks go to our hardworking Webmaster Mr John Wheeler and we are all very grateful for his efforts. Whilst there is still much to do and some areas are still temporarily “under construction”, it is coming together and our archive is being boosted thanks to readers and web browsers. Your archive donations will boost and benefit both the Squadron and the Association & enable us to fill the huge void we have of the War years in our archive. With the direct help & support of OC600 Squadron and staff, we are working together to gather, preserve and share the many wonderful images we have for all to enjoy and that will enable us to continue to build a web site to be rightly proud of. Once again, thank you to all of you for your help, support and contribution. WWW.600squadronassociation.com 2 Minutes of the Annual General Meeting of the City of London Squadron Association held at the RAF Club on Saturday 2012 The President opened the meeting at 1108hrs. Those Present were: Kevin O’Shaughnessy, Sean Ahearn, John Wilding, Angie Luddington, Tom Snow, Andy Cameron, Tony Stotesbury, Sid Myers, Ian Walton, Dennis Sprake, Mr and Mrs Hanley-Brown. Apologies were received: Lord Trenchard, Ken Rock, Rosemary Savery. 1. Due to many letters of support and congratulations, the President proposed a show of thanks to Andy Cameron for his production of the newsletter. 2. Minutes of the 2011 AGM had been distributed to the Members. John Wilding proposed that the minutes were a true and accurate record, seconded by Andy Cameron, all were in favour. 3. There were no matters arising. 4. The President, Chairman, and Secretary are all happy to continue in their roles and there were no other applications. 5. Nominations for the post of Treasurer were received from Ian Walton and Michael Cowham. Michael wished to cover the post should no other nominations be received. Therefore, Ian was proposed by the Chairman, seconded by the President, all were in favour. 6. The Auditor is happy to continue in her post. This was proposed by the Chairman, seconded by Tony Stotesbury. 7. No confirmation that the present Welfare Officer, Rev Matthew Buchan, was willing to continue was received and there were no nominations for this post. It was discussed at length during the Committee meeting and it was decided that there would now be a Welfare Team. Andy Cameron would be the single point of contact with the President, Chairman, Secretary and Trustees to act where required. The Chairman will advise on RAFA and RAF Benevolent Fund issues, the Secretary will deal with home welfare issues and all will take up visiting duties as they are able. Dennis Sprake offered to put us in contact with RAFA the welfare officer network as required. The President and Chairman will deal with any issues which may involve the Royal British Legion. 8. Tom Snow and Andy Cameron are happy to continue in the current roles on the Committee. The President reported that there was a vacancy for a further Member. Tom Melling was proposed by the Chairman, seconded by the President, all in favour. 9. Accounts and balance sheet for the year ended 30th September 2011 have been published and were presented at the meeting by John Wilding. No comments were received from the floor. John said that the General Fund was in good shape and has not required a top-up from the Trust Fund for some time. It was proposed by the Chairman to accept the accounts, seconded by Tom Snow, all in favour. 10. The Chairman reported that the Trust Fund is quite healthy due to a number of donations during the year and he asked for a vote of thanks to all those who contributed to be recorded in the minutes. Sean suggested that any interest from the Welfare Fund should be used to support the AGM excess costs. He also asked for any new donations to be paid into the Treasurers Account in order to manage all the accounts to best practice. 3 Due to a number of changes in personnel in various positions, Sean will need to speak to Lloyds Bank to add/remove permitted signatures on all accounts. 11. The Committee have agreed to attempt to meet twice prior to the next AGM but they will not decide dates at this stage. 12. Tony Stotesbury announced he would like to stand down as a Trustee and handed documents back to the Chairman. This leaves a position vacant. Both the President and Secretary are happy to stand. The Chairman will raise the relevant documents and both the President and the Secretary will present themselves to Lloyds bank to sign the relevant paperwork. Meeting closed at 1136 hrs. Angie Luddington, Secretary Some Images from the AGM kindly taken by Al & Eileen Hanley Brown (L) L-R, Our outgoing Treasurer, John Wilding with Sean Ahearn, Chairman and Angie Luddington Secretary. (R) Angie with John and Ian Walton, our new Treasurer (L) Sean Ahearn with Mike Allen ………………………… 4 Our New Honorary Treasurer, Ian Walton – An Introduction. I worked for 27 years in Nat West Bank in London & the South East. After taking voluntary redundancy from the Bank in 1998, I joined the Inland Revenue in Maidstone in 1999, initially as an Administrative Assistant, and gained promotion to Assistant Officer in 2000. I joined the Royal Observer Corps in 1980, serving initially at the No 2 Group Control in Horsham, and transferred to No 1 Group Control, Maidstone in 1991, rising to Leading Observer. When the Corps was stood down in September 1991, I applied to join No 1 Maritime Headquarters Unit (RAuxAF), and was attested in May 1992. I have participated in numerous exercises in the UK and abroad, including Sicily, Portugal, France & Germany. My interests include Skiing & long distance walking, & I have completed the Nijmegen Marches in Holland 19 times. Association Events There are a number of events in the calendar for which full details are not yet available. If you think you may be interested in attending any of these please indicate using the proforma at the end of this newsletter and details will be forwarded as they become available. By indicating your interest it does not commit you but reduces the number of people I have to contact prior to the event.