Interesting information about this picture on our Forum
View & Join Our Forum
06 September 2008 » North Weald Reunion
This year our annual visit to The Squadron and to the North Weald Airfield Memorial will be held on Saturday, 06 September.
Arrangements are standard:
11.30 hrs: Meet at the Airfield Memorial, beside the Museum in North Weald.
Noon: Lay our wreath.
12.15 hrs: Proceed to The Squadron.
12.30 hrs: That First Free Drink
13.00 hrs: Buffet Lunch
14.30 hrs: Notices and Talks
15.00 hrs: Raffle (do remember to bring something for it)
15.30 hrs: Depart as you will.
Price will be £13 per head, £8 for 249 Air Cadets and children over seven years of age.
Cut-off date for notice of attending: 02 September.
If attending, please send your cheques (payable to "No 249 Squadron Association" ) to the Hon Secretary and Treasurer. If not able to attend, donations are always welcome!
February 2008 » Abingdon
The Canberra air and groundcrew reunion was once again held at the four Pillars Hotel Abingdon, this time on the last weekend in February.
There was an exceptional turn out this year with 43 for dinner on the Friday Night and 54 on the Saturday Night. Unfortunately a few members had to cancel at the last moment otherwise our number would have been over 60.
Pat and Julia De Burca joined us this year, together with Mr and Mrs West. We were also re-united with "Chiefy Bennet", who was accompanied by his daughter Lyn. And Dave and Tina Calvert from The ATC 249 Millennium Squadron also joined us.
The meals were again of a high standard and there was an excellent band in attendance for the dance on the Saturday Evening.
At an impromptu meeting on the Sunday morning it was felt that we need a new venue as we have been coming to Abingdon for nearly ten years and are running out of places to see and things to do. Tommy Cullen, our organiser, is busy looking at two hotels, one in Leicester and the other in Stratford on Avon. but will take advice from the members at the reunion at North Weald on 06 September.
September 2007 » Cyprus Revisited
No less than 65 members and family joined in a nostalgic trip to Cyprus, which included a visit to Akrotiri and a commemorative Dinner in Paphos. Those were the only Association events and the rest of the time everyone was content to do their own thing and acquire a bit of a tan during their stay.
Asking members to make their own arrangements for flights, accommodation and duration of stay worked well. Many stayed at the Pioneer Beach Hotel on the outskirts of Kato Paphos and other stayed in nearby hotels or in apartments and villas. 52 of us were on the coach leaving Paphos on Monday, 24th September, at 9.20am and we arrived on time at the Akrotiri main gate, to meet up with another 14, including our President, Sir John Sutton and Lady Angela and, as a guest, Mr Niyazi Adeniz - whom we all knew when he had a Kebab restaurant in Limassol. Niyazi now has a fine hotel in Northern Cyprus. I was also personally pleased to meet up with Adam Gardiner, our long-time member resident in Larnaca who had helped considerably with lunch arrangements for our visit; Val Loughrey of the local RAFA who came with Adam; and John and Val Spilsbury, our two newest members who also live in Larnaca. The atmosphere was rather like a Sunday School Picnic - if you can still remember back that far - everyone was excited and cheery. The 249 Squadron caps were prominent and we all felt 40 years younger, even if we didn't all look it! Marvellous.
At the Base entrance, we also met up with Flt Lt Craig King, our Visit Project Officer and Curator of the Akrotiri Aviation Museum. In his day job he is DSATCO and, in a previous incarnation, had flown helicopters with the Fleet Air Arm. Bill Cundall, Akrotiri webmaster and Akrotiri Visitor Guide was also there. Bill had been most helpful in getting a number of aspects of our visit sorted out and it was a pleasure to meet him in person.
Craig gave us an informative briefing on the role of this very important airbase, which supports ongoing operations in Afghanistan and Iraq as well as support for the Sovereign Base Areas on the Island. It is used as a forward mounting base for overseas operations in the Middle East and also for Fast Jet Weapons training. In addition, the Red Arrows train there each January. Akrotiri is the first stop for our soldiers coming from Iraq and Afghanistan. It also has the last remaining RAF Hospital. In questions it emerged that RAF aircraft are not permitted to fly over mainland Cyprus and that, with the Sovereign Base Areas under Army Command, there was now near 1000 Army personnel on the base, together with about 1500 RAF men and women. (There were 4500 RAF and 5000 Greek Cypriot workers on base each day when Jim Smith and I arrived in 1958.)
The only resident Squadron has four rescue helicopters and, while we were there, No 111 Tornado Squadron from Leuchars was on detachment doing some training in the sun. After the briefing we had a tour around the barrack block area (some new, but still no air-conditioning) and married patch and then down to where 249 Squadron had been sited. The 249 Sqn building (it wasn't there when I left in 1961) is now used by the Akrotiri Flying Club and two Cessnas were parked on the dispersal pans. The pans were as everyone remembered and some in our group practised marshalling in a Canberra and returning with tearful faces.
We had a very good finger buffet lunch in the Sergeants Mess where some found that a large bottle of Keo was just 38 cents. Unfortunately, the Station Commander, Group Captain John Conway, couldn't get away to join us. However, he did speak by telephone with our President. After lunch, we visited the Akrotiri Aviation Museum, which although housed in a small building contains a wealth of material about 249, thanks to the photos and items sent in by us all. Once the initial excitement subsided, Sir John presented the Museum with a 249 wall badge (a bit larger than the others already there, I am pleased to say) and a one-page framed history of 249, with the emphasis on its days at Akrotiri. In his role as Curator, Craig King was presented with a copy of "249 at War", kindly donated and signed by Brian Cull, the author, and also by Sir John Sutton and yours truly. Just before we left, Craig opened a display case and took out the Sasson Bombing Trophy, which 249 won from 1960 to 1963. It was found, he said, in a skip waiting to be thrown out because a handle had broken off! The handle is available and we hope the Trophy will be restored soon. After a further run around the domestic areas, where the Barrack Block used by our airmen some 40 years ago was seen to be still there, we went on to the new hospital. We left Craig at the Gate with our sincere grateful thanks for a memorable visit. The coach party went on to Limassol for a brief stop (we were all tired out!) before returning to Paphos with lots to talk about on the way and over more Keo and good Cypriot wine that evening.
The next evening saw the Pioneer Beach Hotel giving us a reception, courtesy of Mr Lambor Kakoulis, Hotel Manager, where Jim Smith presented him with a Squadron cap and a 249 wall badge to place prominently in the hotel reception area. A similar wall badge and Squadron cap was given to Niyazi Adeniz by Tommy Cullen and we made Craig King, our guest that evening, an Associate Member and presented him with a 249 tie. Before moving to our tables, outside and near the pool, for a traditional Greek Dinner, we had some group photographs taken but the room was too big for the flashgun on most people's cameras and there were some very blurry under-exposed pictures taken. The dinner was lovely, the night warm, the wine much better than we all remembered, and the Greek entertainment traditional, while our late-night dancing was sublime. It was a lovely occasion and one we will all remember. We were delighted that Sir John and Lady Angela, plus Nyazi, were able to attend.
Next morning, a good number said they planned to return in the next two years and let's hope we can do something like it again. Cyprus in late September is wonderful and to be recommended - with wall-to-wall sunshine and yet not too hot, with good food, spectacular scenery, good roads, and a very friendly population.
My thanks as Association Secretary go to Jim Smith for all his advice on tour operators and his invaluable help in the negotiations and arrangements for the reception and dinner at the Pioneer Beach Hotel. Jim and Merrie were, I think, the only pair from Paphos who made it through the Green Line to Kyrenia. Lambros, manager at the Pionner Beach Hotel, was charming, courteous and ever-helpful while his staff were very friendly, efficient and competent. While Flt Lt Craig King did more than his duty in ensuring our Akrotiri visit met all our requirements. He is a most personable and competent officer who deserves to go far and we wish him well in his future career. Incidentally, he is our only Serving member!
249 Lapel Badges - £3.30
We now have a supply of attractive metal (gold with enamel paint) lapel badges. While intended to meet a demand from our members,
family members might like to wear one as well. They are about 1 inch high and we sell them for £3.30 inc. p&p UK (£4.30 inc. p&p overseas)
Please make cheques payable to: "249 Squadron Association"
| 
