Newsletter 6 2015

Sept/Oct Newsletter
Edited by Ray Towler
Thetford and District Branch
Branch Charity No. 1070702
www.rafathetford,org.uk
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BARRACK ROOM LAWYER
he knows all the rules and how to manipulate their interpretation for his own benefit or for that of his mates.
Most, of course, merely alienated those in authority and often the results backfired. Most of us who have
served have come across the proverbial barrack room lawyer who thinks But, some would say, life would never
have been the same without them, even thinking that they were indispensable.
I remember in the mid-1960s being detached to RAF Sharjah in the Trucial States on the eastern end of the
(Persian) Gulf for a total of 9 months. Now, at that time, Sharjah did not boast the best of facilities, particularly
for recreation, but enormous strides were made to keep the all male population out of the bar. Some of us were
lucky enough to spend some time at Masirah, the island airfield on the opposite side of the Arabian Peninsula
on the Indian Ocean coastline. There, enterprising enthusiasts had constructed a small golf course to provide
some relaxation, and very popular it was too. You will appreciate that Masirah Island did not boast much
vegetation, and what was there was not very green. The fairways represented the largest bunker in the world
and the greens were made of sand also, but rolled flat and sprayed with water and were euphemistically known
as 'the browns'. But we all loved the exercise, the challenges and the fun.
Back at Sharjah, there was no golf course but there was a most enthusiastically supported soccer league, again
not a green pitch but one marked out in the sand, rolled and watered. The league attracted huge numbers of
supporters and the matches represented the highlight of the week for many people. As a visiting squadron,
we were asked to take part in the league knock-out competition, which we did, and as we advanced so the level
of support and enthusiasm grew and grew. As the temperature at Sharjah was so hot, matches were limited to
30-mins each half and were played in the supposedly coolest part of the day, early evening.
Our squadron appointed a 'team manager', who happened to be the Air Electronics Officer on my crew, and
he arranged refreshments at half time and a crew bus to transport the members of the team to/from the pitch.
In fact, the team did so well that we reached the final, for which our team manager went overboard. He arranged
rattles for supporters and even decorated the crew bus for the trip to the pitch. Now, our crew bus had previously
been a V-force alert bus in the UK, hence it was RAF blue although the Sharjah weather had somewhat
sand-blasted it so it was a rather dull blue at that time. For the final, the manager mixed some whitewash and
daubed the squadron number on the sides, front and back - all good for squadron spirit, and he even painted
curtains for the windows, the team arriving with great fanfare and style! We won the match and a great party
was had by all, the crew bus later being returned to its former glory.
'Cept, the whitewash wouldn't come off, not completely anyway, and the outline of the squadron number
remained clearly visible, much to the consternation of the Mechanical Transport Officer who decided that 'we'
had defaced the paint scheme and would have to pay for a re-spray at exorbitant cost. That didn't appeal to
the squadron CO or to the team manager. Enter the barrack room lawyer - the very same team manager, who
dug out all the rules and regulations concerning crew busses. After much good humoured banter and
negotiation, our barrack room lawyer discovered that RAF crew busses in the UK should be painted RAF blue,
but in the Middle East hot climate they should be painted white. Our lawyer thus argued that the MTO was
effectively subjecting our crews to unacceptable risk due to the high temperatures and we should have had a
white crew bus all along. The MTO was thus obliged to accept defeat and repaint the bus white at RAF expense.
Who says barrack room lawyers don't have a role to play?!
September 2015
Victor Papa
Changes to Newsletter
No doubt some of you will have noticed a slight change on the front page. For purely selfish reasons
I made the changes because my feeble mind had trouble remembering the edition number, hence
the change.
Ray Towler
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Wings Day, Saturday 19th September 2015
Thetford Market Place
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Wings Day, Saturday 19th September 2015
Thetford Market Place
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This young Lady won the Bear - Barnham Fete
13th September 2015
Branch Lunch Club - The Warreneer - 18th September 2015
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Battle of Britain Remembrance Service
Sunday 20th September 2015
Provisional Calendar
October 2015
2/3 October Wings Collection
9 October Graduation Parade/Hosted Visit
9 October Wings Collection
13 October Branch Meeting
16 October Branch Lunch Club
21 October RAFALO's Quiz Night
27 October Official opening, Soft Play facility
November 2015
4 November East Wretham Ceremony
5 November
Committee Discussion Group
8 November RBL Parade and Service
8 November Church Service
10 November Newsletter material deadline
10 November Branch Meeting
11 November RBL Ceremony
11 November RBL Church Service
13 November Branch Lunch Club
20 November Christmas Fayre
December 2015
4 December Branch Lunch Club
8 December Branch Meeting
10 December Branch Christmas Dinner
18 December Graduation/Hosted Visit
Thetford Garden Centre
Sergeants' Mess, RAF Honington
Tesco Store, Thetford
Sergeants' Mess, RAF Honington
Norfolk Terrier
Sergeants' Mess, RAF Honington
RAF Honington Community Centre
All Day
08.30
All Day
19.30
12.00
19.00
10.00
St. Ethelbert's Church,
Sergeants’ Mess, RAF Honington
Tanner Street Car Park
Bridgham
INFORMATION
Sergeants' Mess, RAF Honington
War Memorial, Thetford
United Reform Church
Sergeants' Mess, RAF Honington
Community Centre, RAF Honington
10.30
13.30
10.00
15.00
The Warrener Thetford
Sergeants' Mess, RAF Honington
Sergeants' Mess, RAF Honington
Sergeants' Mess, RAF Honington
12.00
13.00
19.30
08.30
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19.30
11.00
18.30
12.00
09.00
7
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12th South East & Eastern Area Conference & Seminar-2016
The Area Council has arranged for the next Area Conference and Seminar to be held at the
Southdown’s Resort, Bracklesham Bay, just south of Chichester, from 1st–3rd April 2016 .The
conference will commence on Saturday morning, details and timings will be finalised nearer the
date of conference.
On Sunday there will be a short Memorial Parade and service.
We ask Branches to encourage all their Members, Associates and Guests to come to
Bracklesham Bay, in particular their Delegates, as it will be a very interesting and informative
weekend. The resort is family orientated and therefore children are welcome.
a) ACCOMMODATION REQUIREMENTS
Delegates and Visitors are asked to submit their requirements on the Pro-forma provided for
the purpose not later than 21st February 2016.
PLEASE NOTE THAT THE FULL PAYMENT FOR ACCOMMODATION MUST ACCOMPANY
THE ACCOMMODATION PROFORMA
b) RESOLUTIONS FOR INCLUSION IN THE 2016 AGENDA
Resolutions for the South East & Eastern Area Annual Conference must reach Area
Headquarters by 21st February 2016.
c) BRANCH/REGIONAL REPRESENTATION
Details of Delegates representing Branches or Regions at Conference and those attending the
Seminar and Memorial Service (Standard Bearer) should be entered onto the appropriate
proforma and sent to South East Office by 21st February 2016.
Membership Subscriptions 2015/2016
The following membership subscriptions were agreed by the Central Council and are published
for your information. The increases are aligned to the RPI average of 5.8% for the two years
from December 2011 to December 2013, in compliance with Resolution 7 of 2006.
Category
2015/16 Membership Fee
Ordinary Member
1 Year
£20.50
4 Year
£78.00
Give as you earn (GAYE)
£25.68 (Gross payment before basic tax relief)
Associate Member
1 Year with Air Mail £14.50
1 Year without Air Mail £8.50
4 Year with Air Mail £55.50
4 Year without Air Mail £30.50
Rebates
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An annual payment at the start of the year of £4.70 for each Ordinary Member on the strength
of the Branch at 31st December of the preceding year.
An annual payment at the start of the year of £2.70 for each Full Associate Member on the
strength of the Branch at 31st December of the preceding year.
The minimum rebate will be £120.
What can you do to help the Association grow ?’
Good news. The number of new members recruited this year across the whole Association has
now reached more than 3,800, surpassing the final numbers for 2014 –and still 3 months to go!
Membership is showing growth in all age categories up to 75 years and we now have as many
as 44% of today’s serving RAF.
It is also interesting to see that more than half our entire membership is aged under 65.
Thank you for your continued recruiting efforts and for your determination as we continue to
secure the future with younger individuals.
For those Branches that operate Clubs, is there anything more you can do to encourage all your
local club goers to become fully paid up members of the Association? Get them signed up now
and we can offer 15 months for the price of 12. Remember it only costs £8.50 to become a Full
Associate. Several of our Clubs have already taken this initiative. Please don’t let up – we are
aiming to finish the year with our best recruiting numbers ever!
We have found that just by asking people directly to join the Association we are getting great
results! If all of us were out there getting just one Member, we would double in size, it is as
simple as that. So please take a look at your Christmas card list this year (sending RAFA
Christmas cards of course) and ask ex and serving RAF friends and family to join. In your email
contacts you can send your friends a link to join online – just paste it in from the https://www.rafa.or
g.uk/members/become a memberpage. And if you use Facebook please ask your RAF and
other friends to join AND also get them to ask THEIR friends. Make it easy for them by including
the link to the joining page on the website.’
Another way to increase our membership is for Branches to chase up their lapsed members.
As at 30 September out Area still had 603 Ordinary and 265 Full Associates shown as lapsed.
Whilst this figure is down on the previous year it is still unacceptably high.. Once again, I would
urge all Branches to make personal contact, either by a phone call or visit, with those of their
members who have not yet renewed to determine why someone has not renewed. It might be
that there is a welfare problem which neither the Branch nor Area HQ is aware of.
Battle of Britain Commemorative Coins
We have been working for some time on an opportunity to be associated with a national level
campaign to mark the 75th Anniversary of the Battle of Britain. This work has paid off in the
shape of a joint campaign with the London Mint Office and Worcester Medal Service Limited to
launch a free ‘commemorative’ (neither a coin suggesting legal tender, nor a medal only issued
with the approval of HM The Queen for wearing on uniforms), but I think most would call it a
‘coin’!
The coin was launched in time for Battle of Britain Day. Every household that applies for a
commemorative will receive one free of charge (plus postage) and will also receive a letter from
the Association telling them what we do, including a case study and encouraging them to find
out more about the Association. Clearly, London Mint will encourage them to buy the ‘paid for’
coins. The commemorative pack carries our branding – emblem and logo.
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The marketing, promotion, advertising, printing of letters and postage is paid for by the London
Mint – this is at no cost to the Association and we will also receive some commission from the
‘paid for’ coins that are sold.
Area Newsletters
I would be grateful if Branch Secretaries would encourage those of their members who have
email addresses, but do not yet receive the Area Newsletter electronically, to get in touch with
the Area Office to ensure we have their email address recorded. Having an email address
recorded not only means the member can receive information and correspondence more quickly
but would contribute to significant savings in time, printing and postage.
Air Mail – Branch News
The Branch News section within the Air Mail now has its own dedicated email address:
[email protected]
You can send all of your wording and attached pictures direct to Louise Pullen at RAFATRAD
Limited using this email address
STAMP APPEAL !
Don’t throw your used postage stamps away! The Royal Air Force Association would be delighted
to receive your used postage stamps.
Please send them to:
R.A.F.A Stamps
P.O. Box 6198
Leighton Buzzard
Beds
LU7 9XT.
All stamps should be cut or torn from envelopes etc. leaving approx.¼ inch of paper around
them.
If possible please send Foreign stamps separate, marking clearly on the outside of the envelope
‘Foreign Stamps’.
Your help is vital in aiding our fundraising and we are grateful for your support.
Reminder
The Branch Meetings scheduled for the months of December and January are being held at
13.30 hrs, in the Sergeants’ Mess, RAF Honington.
Newsletter
If you have any material that you would like published in the Branch Newsletter forward it to Ray
Towler. Any material published is subject to copyright and should not contain controversial
personal views.
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Graduation Parade
9th October 2015
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Where Petals Fall
Have you seen him standing
The soldier by the cross
In the morning sunlight
To remember our nations lost
Folded hands on rifle butt
Cast shadows in the sun
Beyond the field of crosses
Forget then are none
For they did give so we might live
Some stories never told
Remembered years, hidden tears
For those who grew not old
Still heard the cries from oceans
Tears from the sky
Winds across the deserts
As years will pass on by
So remember now the chosen few
The dead beneath the waves
Those who rest in far off fields
And those who have no graves
Tony
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RAFALO’s Quiz Night 21 October 2015
Battle of Britain Golf Competition 2015
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Branch Lunch Club - 18 October 2015 - The Norfolk Terrier
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2015 Wings Appeal
Last year’s Wings Appeal was finalised early November, and immediately the 2015 Wings Appeal
started, and continued until the present figures were consolidated and forwarded to CHQ.
Figures for the 2015 Wings Appeal have been finalised and they surpassed all expectations. Thanks
to those dedicated collectors, the Branch grossed £5,099.50 and after expenses (Wings Band Concert)
the Net amount forwarded to Central Headquarters was £4,205.73. Our initial target was £4,000.00
and until September we were afraid that the target would not be met but it was and then passed.
My sincere thanks go to those Branch Members who manned our Branch Stand and who stood
collecting at Tesco Store, Thetford and at Thetford Garden Centre. And we must not forget the general
public who put their hands in their pockets and purses and contributed so generously.
Our thanks to the Thetford Golf Club, who hold an Annual Battle of Britain Golf Tournament and who
donate proceeds to the Branch as part of Wings Appeal.
Another worthy of mention is those who took part in “naming the bear”. Over the collecting period the
Branch offered eleven bears, each of which generated £50.
The Net total breakdown is as follows:
Strret Collection
£ 169.33
Premises Collections
£1,563.47
RAFALO’s, RAF Honington
£ 100.00
Donations
£ 242.73
Name the Bear
£ 550.00
Branch Stand
£1,095.32
Wings Band Concert
£ 514.21
Golf Competition
£ 140.00
Net Total
£4,205.73
Ray Towler
Wings Appeal Organiser
Newsletters
I know I have said this many times, but I need to remind you that this Newsletter survives because of
material which you contribute. If you have anything you would like included in any of the Newsletters
please forward to Ray Towler at 105 Lord Walsingham Court, Glebe Close, Thetford, Norfolk, IP24
2LT (Yes, I have chaged my address), or email me at [email protected].
All I ask is that you do not submit articles which are contraversial or libelous, and please do not
plagerise other people’s work.
Nostolgic photographs would be welcome.
Thank you for your continuous support.
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