Recently, I attended the funeral of John Linfield of Sexmog Centre. John was well known by members of Thames Valley having enjoyed attendance at several national MOG events and joint centre gatherings. He was once pulled down a hill by my vigorous Labrador. He never let go of Bobby’s lead, right down to the bottom, which was the beginning of a long friendship between them. Whenever I saw John, he always asked after Bobby. John was a good friend, and a loving father and husband. He had some courageous years in the fire service and he was talented engineer. I and his many friends will miss him greatly. On behalf of the Centre, I would like to send our sincere condolences to his wife Maureen and her family. To live to in the hearts of those we leave behind is not to die (Campbell, 1825).
I have old friend that is always watching the movies of the 633 squadron and the Dam Busters; he can’t stop admiring the amazing feats of the 617 squadron – I agree with him and I often remind Fred of how I was fortunate once to visit this squadron at their old base in Losseimouth. In the staff mess it was fascinating to look through the aerial photographs of the blown dams from that famous raid. I do believe it is important to remember the great debt we owe the RAF for the freedom we enjoy today. I was therefore saddened to learn that 617 squadron has been disbanded for a few years until the delivery of the F35 Lightning. I hope indeed this historic squadron will return. So what has prompted all this reminiscing? Well, my first attendance at a Thames Valley noggin was back in 1985. I remember it well. There was a range of models on show including several 1960’s Plus 4s (where are they now I wonder?) People were dressed in flying jackets and helmets. As the Plus 4s fired up for their departure, cries of ‘chocks away’ could be heard – those were the days. All this had come back to me while I was chatting to Helen Thorne recently, from Richard Thorne Classic Cars our local Morgan agent. We were standing next to their Morgan three wheeler demonstrator that was clad in stunning silver paint. ‘Would you like to take her to RAF Benson for us,’ Helen asked. I jumped at the chance as you can imagine. Chocks away and where are my flying jacket, helmet and goggles? I thought.
So with our very welcome invitation back to RAF Benson on Thursday 24th July for their family day and air show, please remember that the organisers at RAF Benson request that all vehicles are to be on site by 10:30. Flying displays start at 12:00. It's OK to leave any time after about 16:00. The event continues into the evening for the families of service people. The organisers require the following details: Vehicle Make, Model, Registration Number, Colour; Full Names of Driver and all passengers. Separate and numbered passes will be issued for each vehicle and person. These will have been sent to the Dave Cleveland and he will then forward these to you so please provide a postal address (just one per vehicle). I would like to thank Dave very much indeed once again for coordinating this marvellous event. Arriving at RAF Benson in a Morgan three wheeler wearing flying goggles will be really cool, of course.
As outlined last month Tim Jones is organising a trip to Mapledurham on 7th September 2014. We now have 18 people booked in (10 cars) with 3 months to go. We need 22 more and are now informing other centres so please hurry to book your places!! Full details are on the events page.