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Bentley Priory
From Erica Ferguson of bentleypriory.org:
I work with the Bentley Priory Battle of Britain Trust, which was formed to safeguard Bentley Priory at the behest of the Battle of Britain Fighter Association. We have negotiated a...
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If you’ve registered for the Harrier 40th Anniversary Dinner you’ll probably already have received this, from 20(R) Sqn at Wittering:
To date, over 350 personnel have signed up to attend the Gala Dinner; we have been pleasantly surprised that those who have registered to date represent all decades of the Harrier’s history from development through to those on the current Force.
Dress for the evening will be ‘Black Tie’, the menu for the evening has been chosen, and is attached for your perusal. If you have any specific dietary requirements, please let me know. Pre-dinner drinks and wine (½ Bottle/person) will be provided as part of the meal; additional refreshments will be available until midnight from a cash bar.
Continue reading 40th Gala Dinner – Update
OK, the new forums are up and running.
Apart from a neat design, the main difference is that once you log into the main website you’re automatically logged into the Forums as well. About time, I hear you say. You’re welcome to go there and start leaving messages, tweaking your profiles and generally exploring.
There are no messages there yet because I’ve got to copy and paste the messages from the old forums into the new ones. I’ll get around to it. I’m still recovering from the shock of deleting all the content last night!
That was a scary 12 hours! I erased all the posts and pages off the website by mistake while trying to make a major upgrade to the Forums. Luckily I has a two-day-old backup but it took me a while to get it loaded.
I promise to be more careful in the future. (In futurum videre?)
James Harrod (twitter: @longpier) has let me know that he’ll be live blogging, twittering and uploading AV content to his website during the Southend Air Show this weekend.
Our sister ATC Sqn, 444 (Shoreditch), will be helping at the Southend Air Show again this year, on Sunday 24 May and Monday 25 May. They’ve asked me to ask you to give them a call on the radio if you’re flying in the area on either day:
Air Cadet HF Radio
Again this year the Air Cadets will be helping at the Southend Air Show. As well as helping with organising and running the Show there will be a demonstration Radio Station on Air. The station will be using very basic equipment, but if conditions are good it is hoped to make many contacts. They will be on air during day time 1000Z to 1600Z on both Sunday 24 and Monday 25 May 2009.
If you have an opportunity during your flight to contact the Air Cadets on your HF radio suggested information to send is set out below:
Continue reading Southend Air Show 2009
I’ve just realised that the Black Tie Dinner on Thursday 23rd July is only for people who have served directly with the Harrier Force i.e. no wives, ex-wives, girlfriends, boyfriends, partners, better halves etc. This is a shame – it’s probably a numbers thing.
Families are welcome at the Open Day on Friday. That’s when I’ll be there…
Wg Cdr Donald C Ferguson AFC, aka Fergy or Black Ferg, originally from Oban, passed away on 6 April 2009. His funeral was held on 22 April at Saint Pancras Church in the small village of Kingston near Lewes. These details from Alan Pollock: Continue reading Wg Cdr Donald C. Ferguson AFC
From Erica Ferguson of bentleypriory.org:
I work with the Bentley Priory Battle of Britain Trust, which was formed to safeguard Bentley Priory at the behest of the Battle of Britain Fighter Association. We have negotiated a deal with the MOD and the brokers that were contracted by the MOD to dispose of the site. This deal not only secures the main historic rooms on the ground floor, the lovely gardens and the gateguards for public access as a museum, but also secures a large endowment (£3M) towards the long term operational costs of running the museum for perpetuity. This should take away the risks of operating on a shoe string as happens with many worthwhile heritage venues.
Sadly at the last minute the sale of the site fell through because of the recession. Continue reading Bentley Priory
The Bentley Priory Petition, passed on to me by Alan Pollock, needs to be signed by today, Saturday 25th April.
CAS and others outside the RAF have been actively involved. Inevitably many are seriously concerned in the present debt crisis of careless precipitate action by HMG.
“The undersigned petition the Prime Minister to Save Bentley Priory, Battle of Britain HQ.“
The additional info states: During the Battle of Britain, Bentley Priory in Stanmore, Middlesex was Hugh Dowding’s and 11 Group’s Headquarters. It is the spiritual home of Fighter Command and the remaining survivors of ‘The Few’. The Ministry of Defence has sold the Priory to developers*, they are to convert the Priory into high value apartments and build many more in the grounds. At the very least, legislation is needed to save the whole of the ground floor from the developers, so it can become a lasting memorial to the men and women who saved this country and the world from Nazi tyranny.
If you are opposed to this sale without necessary safeguards for preservation of the most important and historic areas and have not already done so, please add your name to the petition at the following link:
http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/BentleyPriory/
From Larry Chambers:
Has anyone please, any firm information for me? Due to the wheelchair etc. I’ll need to plan.
mr.340@t-online.de or laurence.chambers@rolls-royce.com should do the trick if someone would be kind enough to pass me on the details.
John Farley, world famous test pilot and Harrier mate extraordinaire, has just had his book published – “A View From The Hover”.
It’s available from Flyer Books. I’m off to order my copy now!
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Bill served on IV(AC) Sqn at Jever and Sylt from 1954 to 1957 when the Squadron operated Sabres and Hunters.
Living here in Australia I don’t get much news and mostly depend on my occasional visits back to the UK. At 73 years of age the 50 hours travelling takes it out of me now. I would love to be there for the next anniversary. Probably, it will be the last time I can make the journey and will be something to look forward to.
By the way, I am not that feeble. I still fly a couple of hours each week. Ultralight aircraft now but it is still aviation. Just had Airshows Down Under here in Melbourne. Pity we were not represented. This is only held every 2 years and normally coincides with the change from Summer to an awful windy and wet Autumn. Still warmer than UK.
I am grateful and pleased you have kept me on your mailing list. There cannot be many of us shiny 4 blokes left from the Jever days now. Quite a few of my former colleagues are now wearing permanent wings, well, we hope so.
Anyway, thanks again, keep it safe,
Bill (Styx) White
From Al Pinner, OC Battle of Britain Memorial Flight:
Please forgive the circular, but I wanted to make you aware of a Banquet BBMF are hosting on 3rd July in support of the Bomber Command Memorial Appeal. The Banquet will be held in the Petwood Hotel, Woodhall Spa, perhaps better known as the Officers’ Mess of the Dambusters in 1944/45, and David Shepherd will be the guest speaker. We have secured the services of Michelin starred chefs – the Executive Chefs de Cuisine of the Lanesborough, Sheraton Park Lane and Jumeirah Carlton Tower Hotel – Paul Gaymer, Andrew Bennett and Simon Young – all of whom will prepare a course, so it promises to be a fine meal.
The evening will start with a champagne reception at 7:15pm (champagne by Tattinger) followed by a flypast by the Lancaster at 7:45pm. Dinner at 8 with several Bomber Command Veterans and David Shepherd will speak after dinner on his life in art. Following David’s speech, a swing band will play until we have all swung!
This will be a wonderful evening in great company and will raise significant funds for the Bomber Command Memorial – however, there will be no auction! I hope that as many of you as possible are able to come, sadly no ‘mates rates’, and would be especially grateful to those who will take a table.
As you will see on the other attachment, we will be hosting the first ever exhibition of David’s private collection in our hangar from 29th June – 3rd July and a hosted tour on the Friday afternoon is included for all those that come to the Banquet.
Yours aye
Al Pinner
Squadron Leader
Officer Commanding BBMF
Please click on the links below to see/download/print the flyers and booking form:
raf-exhib-tours-flyer-advert
bomber-banquet2009-invite-covers
bomber-banquet2009-invite-inside
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