Wittering WinterV 2011 \\ The official magazineie for RAF Wittering wand RAF Cottesmore In Brief | Our Finest Hour | Win a Tin! Features : Wittering View \\ Winter 2011 1 The Lodge Trust “Country Café” Main Street, Market The Stamford Overton, Rutland LE15 7PL Open Tuesdays to Saturdays 10.00 a.m. – 4.00 p.m. Cheese Cellar 17 St Mary’s Street, Stamford • Cooked breakfast • Delicious home-made cakes Tel: 01780 489269 • Hot and cold snacks • Children’s menu Email: [email protected] We also have two holiday log cabins available to hire, weekly bookings and short breaks available. Offering local produce where possible. We offer over 80 www.lodgecountrypark.org.uk Tel: 01572 768073 / 767234 different Cheeses from around the world, We also offer a cheese board service. We also provide Wedding Cheese Cakes, the new wave to hit weddings instead of the more THE GARDEN HOUSE HOTEL Traditional Wedding Cake. Lincolnshire Honey, chutneys, 01780 763359 jams, free range eggs, oils & cheese gifts, all stocked. * Walled Gardens & Car Park * Excellent Food * Sensible Prices We stock all five * Functions, Dinners, Stiltons for Christmas Weddings • Cropwell Bishop * Fixed Price Lunch & Early • Long Clawson Bird from £12.50 for 2 courses • Colston Bassett * New Autumn / Winter • Websters A la Carte menu • Tuxford + Tebbutt Christmas menus now available 42 High St., St Martins, Open: Monday - Thursday 9.30 - 5.00 Stamford, Lincs, PE9 2LP Friday - Saturday 9.00 - 5.00, Sunday 11.00 - 4.00 [email protected] Free Local Delivery Available. www.gardenhousehotel.com 11 Watergate, Grantham 30 High Street 35 North Street, Bourne Lincolnshire NG31 6NS Grantham, Lincolnshire NG31 6PH Lincolnshire PE10 9AE T: 01476 563053 T: 01476 566164 T: 01778 423816 F: 01476 575124 F: 01476 576249 F: 01778 393980 E: [email protected] E: [email protected] E: [email protected] 2 Wittering View \\ Winter 2011 Wittering View \\ Winter 2011 3 Wittering Winter 2011 View The official magazine for RAF Wittering and RAF Cottesmore the Deputy Editor, Emma Stacey, holding again please contact Editors my hand and the hard work of all the article me. Pleas over for this providers I have muddled through. edition. \\ Editor Liz Corry SO2 FGW Ops Foreword I have lots of ideas for the Wittering Well one more actually! Don’t Group Captain Richard Hill View but am aware that not everyone forget to enter our Christmas Word This has been a fast has the same taste as me when it comes Search Competition (on page 35) if As you read this, I will have been in post for introduction to the world to magazine articles and features, so if you fancy your chances at winning a nearly six months (if I haven’t been sacked…!), of editing and collation anyone has some budding journalistic tin of chocolates! and Christmas will nearly be upon us. of magazine articles. thoughts or ideas please drop me an With Christmas looming ahead of email. The role of Editor is a big task, us I am guessing pressie shopping is e will have sold the Harriers, I found this to be a staggeringly large I have certainly hit the ground running as I have discovered, and I would like well and truly underway as well as all their support equipment and figure, one that makes me realise just how with my first edition of the Wittering View to add to the Wittering View team, so if the festive parties. I hope you all have W spares to our American cousins; lucky those of us are who plan to be at – unfortunately magazine editing doesn’t you would like to take on an interesting a fab time and a lovely New Year and and a good chunk of this equipment home with our family. feature in any of the various RAF Loggie and diverse additional duty that will come back to work fully relaxed and will have actually left Cottesmore Not wishing to look too far ahead - training courses I have completed! But with get you out and about around the Unit, raring to go! and departed these shores. And, the certainly not before I’ve ‘enjoyed’ my New deployed personnel of 3 Sqn RAF Regt will Year’s Day hangover - we will face another be nearly a third of the way through their busy year in 2012. We will close RAF Contents various operational tours. Who knows, Cottesmore on 31 March, handing the site Op ELLAMY might even have finished. over ready for the arrival of the first Army 04 Foreword Doesn’t time fly… I must be getting old, unit later that year. Notwithstanding the 06 In Brief as it doesn’t seem like five minutes since residual disposal work that will inevitably it was my parents bemoaning the fact extend beyond that date, we will secure 08 News from 3 Sqn that Christmas seems to turn up months the legacy of Joint Force Harrier by clearing earlier each year! the site and properly closing-off all the 10 1 EL Sqn Charity Work Of course, most of us look forward to associated supply accounts. At Wittering, 12 Ex Overlord Christmas; but it can be a difficult time we will receive elements of the rusticated for others. Those with family members A4 staffs from Air Command, and we expect 16 Our Finest Hour deployed on operations will have a to play host to the RAF’s Joint Force Support different, and inevitably less cheerful, (Afghanistan) Headquarters as it forms-up 17 The Armed Forces Covenant experience than those of us who will be and undertakes its mission preparation. 18 We are the Champions at home with all our loved ones. And I And we hope to begin to receive a know that there are many other people number of other units and staffs that we work and support during this past year. 20 BT Richardson Racing Team Visit out there who are not blessed when expect to relocate here. Unfortunately, we Please accept my very best wishes for the it comes to ‘loved ones’. We must, as will also have to deal with the effects of forthcoming Festive Season; and, despite 21 First Response Team ever, do what we can to remember and the next tranche of redundancies. All of my comments above, may I take this 22 SSAFA support those who are deployed around this at the same time as enjoying HM The opportunity to wish you and your families the world, in Afghanistan and elsewhere; Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and the London a Very Merry Christmas. 24 Home–Made Christmas Pudding fortunately, we have tried and tested Olympics. So, if anyone was hoping for procedures and mechanisms to do this. a rest next year, Wittering will not be the 25 Padre’s Corner However, this year, while holding all these place to get it. I see all this as positive, 26 Open Doors people in our thoughts, I would like us to though: a busy station is a happy station, remember that in certain areas across and there will be no question that Wittering 27 Hive the Station and the A4 Force, up to continues to be an extremely relevant two thirds of our people could be station when it comes to generating effect 32 In The Hot Seat on duty and working during on operations. 33 Quiz Time the Christmas period. Once again, thanks for all your hard 8 News From 3 Sqn 35 Win a Tin! Wittering DESIGNED BY EDITOR DISTRIBUTION Submissions Tesco Extra Serpentine Green, Morrisons Danyella James WinterV 2011 \\ The official magazineie for RAF Wittering wand RAF Cottesmore Sqn Ldr Liz Corry Please direct all submissions for Wittering View Magazine to SO2 FGW Ops Stamford, Waitrose Stamford, Families Spar Shop ADVERTISING Wittering, Wittering Post Office & Local Doctors Ext. 7189 Lance Publishing Ltd, 1st Floor, Tailby House, and Dental Surgeries DEPUTY EDITOR Bath Road, Kettering, Northants, NN16 8NL The Editor Tel: Kayleigh on 01536 526666 Emma Stacey PUBLISHED BY [email protected] Sqn Ldr Liz Corry TEAM Lance Publishing Ltd, 1st Floor, Tailby House, [email protected] SAC Sarah Hanson Bath Road, Kettering, Northants, NN16 8NL PRINTING Please try to ensure that images are in .jpeg format and as large as possible. Text should be Tel: 01536 512624, Lance Print Ltd, Tel: 01480 492183 EDITORIAL DEADLINES Fax: 01536 515481 supplied in Microsoft Word .doc format or plain text if possible. Deadlines for editorial entries, www.lancepublishing.co.uk In Brief | Our Finest Hour | Win a Tin! Features : Wittering View \\ Winter 2011 1 \\ Winterwittering winter 11.indd 1 2011 23/11/11 13:30:55 \\ Winter 2011 4 Wittering View Feb 3rd, May 7th July 20th, Oct 19th. E.mail: [email protected] Wittering View In Brief The Morning After In 2009, 380 people died due to accidents involving drinking and driving. y drinking and driving, you risk your life, the lives of your passengers and HELP FOR HEROES B the lives of others who use the road. It is obvious to most people that alcohol and EUROPEAN BANGER driving do not mix. What isn’t so obvious, but proven by the large number of drivers Personnel from RAF Wittering organised a Banger convicted, is that you can still be many times Run across Europe in aid of Help for Heroes. over the limit the day after a night out! A night out can see many adults drinking in excess of 20 units. A couple of he 2011 Banger Run was the sequel glasses of wine with a meal can equate to last year’s ‘12-Countries in 4 Days’, to between two and three units while five T and the theme this year was the pints would equate to between 10 and 14 European F1 Challenge.