Memorial Service For Tom and Eileen Neil

A memorial service is taking place on November 8th at 11.30 in St Clements Dane Church.

Doors will be open from 10.30 and people are requested to be seated by 11.15.

Entry is by ticket only with a closing date of 17 October. Email the following for tickets
neil.memorial18@gmail.com

Donation to Help for Heroes

At the request of the association £500 has been donated to Help for Heroes.

 

The End of an Era

.August 18th 2018 was the 100th anniversary of the Squadron’s formation. A final reunion was held at North Weald on this date and the Association with the permission of the membership, was closed down

Our Association President Wing Commander Tom Neil DFC* AFC,

It is with great sadness that we have learned of the Death of Tom our Association President., We thank God for him and  the people of his Generation who kept this Country safe in it’s time of need.

You will be missed Sir.

Tom’s funeral will be a family Service. There will be a memorial service, the date to be announced later.

Photo Opportunity at our Last Reunion

There will be a photo Opportunity on our way to The Squadron at North Weald after the wreath laying ceremony on 18th August. The photo will be taken in front of Tom Neil’s Hurricane by the Tower at North Weald. Details on the Day

EMMA LEDDY

It is with deep sadness we have learned of the death of Emma Leddy, wife of the late Andy Leddy. Andy served with the Squadron from 1959 until 1962. Emma was a great supporter of the Association, Our condolances to her relatives and friends.

Her Funeral will take place on Monday 11th June at 12.30 in the Roman Catholic Church, Ramsey, followed by her Cremation at Peterborough Crematorium

at 14.30 hrs.

David Calvert Writes

249 Hailsham Squadron, RAF Air Cadets, was   recently nominated to represent Sussex Wing, at Region level, in the Lees Trophy. This is a competition to find the best cadet squadron in the country with between 30 and 45 enrolled cadets. This resulted in being shortlisted by the Regional Commandant, Grp Cpt Lewis. He then visited and inspected the short-listed squadrons. As a result of this inspection, 249 Squadron was selected to represent London and South East Region in the final six in the country. This region, by the way, covers Greater London, Kent, Sussex, Surrey, Middlesex and Essex. This is a tremendous achievement for the cadets who essentially presented the squadron themselves on the evening. I understand that of the six nominees, three will be selected for a final inspection by the Corps Commandant, Air Commodore, Dawn McCafferty, CBE.

    Even if the squadron progresses no further, it is still a great honour and reflects the efforts made by the cadets of this still young squadron, founded only in the year 2000.

    The staff, especially the Warrant Officer (!), are delighted but now we are concerned that someone will finally call our bluff! I am attaching a couple of pictures from the evening.

Well done the Millennium Squadron

A letter from Our Chairman

Those of us who enjoyed another reunion at the Petwood recently will probably recall my wife Shirley-Anne circulating an idea to make the final meeting at North Weald a bit more special with a visit to Stow Maries Great War Aerodrome on Sunday 19th August. More than 30 expressed an interest, so living in the area we have done some research and come up with some possibilities for you.

Stow Maries aerodrome is in a very rural location about 25 miles from North Weald, and the nicest accommodation locally is the Chichester Hotel near Wickford, about 9 miles from Stow Maries. They can provide a very elegant private room on Saturday 18th for dinner and entertainment, and all the usual amenities.  Based on 30 covers cost would be £33 per head for 2-course set meal including room hire, and overnight accommodation including breakfast at £85 per couple.  It is a very pleasant privately run hotel with just 36 rooms, so obviously bookings would need to be made asap.

We are happy to manage bookings and monitor the availability etc. on your behalf, but would ask for payment in advance.

Information about the aerodrome can be found at www.stowmaries.org.uk, opening times are 1000-1700 and accompanied tours are available.  Obviously some people might wish to make alternative accommodation and dining plans but I would emphasise again that there are not many hotels in the vicinity, so an early reservation will be needed for anyone wishing to take up this offer.

Please feel free to call or email me if you have any other ideas or need further information.

Look forward to meeting you at North Weald.

Jim Ellis & Shirley-Anne

01245 261640

07714 089722

North Weald Hanger Dance

The Hurricane

Worth a Read:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5277007/How-rugged-hurricane-masterpiece-