South East and Eastern Area rafa.org.uk | 0800 018 2361 South East and Eastern Area Headquarters newsletter Royal Air Forces Association Atlas House, 41 Wembley Road September 2017 Leicester LE3 1UT [email protected] Flight Lieutenant Lyon’s 100th Birthday Celebration at the Albatross Club, RAF Association 1066 Branch Bexhill–on–Sea It was a great pleasure and honour for the Area Director, Ailsa Gough, Area Council Chairman John Gilmour and Area Council Vice Chairman Elaine Britton to share in Flt Lt Jack Lyon’s 100th birthday celebrations at the Albatross Club, 1066 RAF Association Branch, Bexhill–on–Sea on Saturday 2 September. Flight Lieutenant Lyon, a life member of the Association, who was imprisoned in the infamous Stalag Luft III after he was shot down during WWII operations, was part of the audacious ‘Great Escape.’ During the celebrations, Flight Lieutenant Lyon received a number of gifts and letters of congratulations including from RAF Association President, Air Marshal Sir Baz North and the Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Sir Stephen Hillier. It was a memorable day for an extraordinary individual. Wings Appeal We would like to say a huge thank you to all our branches for the tremendous amount of fundraising that has taken place around the area so far this year. We appreciate the time and effort it takes to arrange a collection, find volunteers to staff it and of course thank everyone afterwards. It is only through the considerable efforts of people like your branch committee, branch members, families and friends that we are able to continue to collect the significant amounts for the Wings Appeal each year. As we approach Wings Week, when the majority of branch’s street collections take place, we would like to remind you that the RAF Association’s PR toolkit resource is available on our website. This includes a guide with help and advice on how to gain maximum publicity for your branch and includes template press releases to publicise Wings Appeal collections. 1 These resources can be accessed by visiting www.rafa.org.uk/promotion and scrolling down to the PR toolkit section. Returning branch Wings Appeal monies Please have your branch’s final Wings Appeal monies returned to the Wings Appeal team at headquarters by Friday 10 November 2017 (Northern Ireland branches should return their Wings Appeal monies to the Northern Ireland Area Office). This will enable them to process all 2017 income and close your branch’s Wings account for the year in preparation for producing the branch’s annual Wings statement. Any monies raised specifically from street collections should be submitted 14 days after the date the collection took place, in order for the Wings Appeal team to make the relevant returns to your local council. You can return Wings Appeal monies by using the Wings Returns (WR) paper packs. Instructions on how to fill these in and return your monies will be sent to your branch Wings Appeal organiser in their September Wings Appeal newsletter. If you would like any further information on the above then please contact the Wings Appeal team by emailing [email protected] or calling 0116 268 8797 / 8758. RAF Swannington A Remembrance Service is to take place on Saturday 11 November at St Peter’s Church, Haveringland in Norfolk, which is on the site of the old RAF Swannington airfield. It will be 70 years since the station closed, so in addition to the Remembrance Service there will a small exhibition of photographs and information about the squadrons (85 and 157) and the personnel that were stationed there. Research has been undertaken on all the aircrew members who were killed during WWII while serving there. Contact has been made with some of their living relatives from far and wide and all without exception, so far, will be attending the Service, travelling from places such as Scotland, Wales, Somerset, Gloucestershire and Sussex, each coming to pay tribute to their lost relatives. Because of its isolation and rurality this has never happened here before, which makes it a special event. It is hoped that the media will be covering the event, and therefore we would wish to have as many standards and members as possible in attendance. If any members would like to attend the service, they would be made more than welcome. Confirmation of attendance from the Australian High Commission in London is being sought because there were Australian aircrew who were killed in action while serving at RAF Swannington. Also invited are The Right Honourable Keith Simpson MP (Member of Parliament for the constituency) and representatives from the United States Air Force (both 85 and 157 Squadrons were part of 100 Group, working with some of the USAF Squadrons). There will also be standard bearers from the Royal British Legion (RBL), the Royal Artillery Association and the RAF Air Cadets. After the service, trees will be planted outside the church as an Avenue of Remembrance to the Royal Air Force. Each tree will be in remembrance of a squadron, group or organisation associated with the station. The whole event will be videoed to form part of a Heritage Project that will show how the Royal Air Force integrated with the local community during the war years. If you have a standard bearer available, or if any branch members would like to attend please could you contact Cat Knott on [email protected] or the organiser Mike Hillier directly on [email protected]. The City of London street collection – 8 September 2017 2 Once again the South East and Eastern Area is organising a collection in the City of London in aid of the Wings Appeal. The collection this year will be on Friday 8 September 2017 using the Guildhall as a base. To assist this venture the South East and Eastern headquarters can offer travel expenses and all equipment for your collecting needs. Collecting is from 0600hrs until 1300hrs. Should collectors wish to use their own collecting boxes please let us know in advance in order that we may allocate you a box number. All money collected by individuals will be credited to your own branch. Collectors should register with the South East and Eastern Area headquarters in advance by contacting Cat Knott on [email protected] or 0116 268 8784 or Christina Narayan on [email protected] or 0116 464 5052. Field of Remembrance - Westminster Abbey Gardens – 9 November 2016 We have once again been invited to participate in the above ceremony by the RBL. I therefore ask branches to once more give this special occasion their best possible support by ordering crosses to be planted by their representatives wherever possible. Entrance to the field will involve passing through police security checks. Everyone must bring two forms of ID of which one must include a photograph (e.g. passport). Sight of these may be required by the police or security officers. The South East and Eastern Area will be pleased to arrange for crosses to be planted on behalf of branches not represented. Please be advised that all crosses must be planted by 09.30hrs on the day. Gates will open at 0845 hrs and close at 1030hrs. All participants must be in position by 1030hrs. Employees from the South East and Eastern Area, will be in attendance along with the National Standard Bearer on the day. A Badge Cross will cost £10.85 and a Leaf Cross (suitable for use by branches) will cost £6.65. Orders, together with the appropriate remittance, should be sent to Cat Knott, RAF Association South East and Eastern Area, Atlas House, 41 Wembley Road, Leicester, LE3 1UT. Alternatively, you can call on 0116 268 8784 or email: [email protected] no later than Wednesday 27 September 2017. St Clement Dane’s Annual Service The "Friends of St Clement Danes Church” Annual Concert, featuring the Central Band of the RAF and Choir of St Clement Danes will take place at 1900hrs on Thursday 30 November 2017. Tickets are available on the door or from RAF Charitable Trust Enterprises on 01285 713456 or via email [email protected]. Tickets are £20 on the door and £18 when pre-ordered. There is an interlude during which drinks will be served. The concert normally finishes around 2115hrs. South East and Eastern Area Conference and seminar 2018 The 14th South East and Eastern Area Conference and seminar will be held at the Marriott Hotel, Peterborough over the weekend of 23 to 25 March 2018. Paperwork will be sent out to branches later and I hope as many branch delegates and members as possible will be able to attend. 3 The conference will commence on Saturday morning, details and timings will be finalised nearer the date of the conference. On Sunday 25 March there will be a short memorial parade and service. RAFA Colour Chaos at RAF Wittering Over 200 runners came to RAF Wittering on 20 August for RAFA Colour Chaos, the first run of its kind to be held on an active RAF Station. The event was enormous fun, raised vital funds for the RAF Association and took place entirely within the Cambridgeshire Station. Participants (who ran, jogged, danced and walked) were plastered in multi-coloured corn-starch as they navigated the circuit. RAF personnel Chris and Nicola Stafford reached the end of the course with Chris barely able to see out of his sunglasses. Nonetheless, they were both very happy indeed. Chris said: “It was a really, really good laugh, absolutely.” Every £1 raised will go towards projects that help members of the RAF family, particularly the Storybook Wings initiative, where serving parents record their children’s favourite bedtime stories before going away on active service.