Pen Portraits: what happened next
Pen portraits of post-graduation life, as submitted to the 69th Association newsletter over the period 1994 - 2011
Frank Sheppard - Airframes
Another one who had an initial posting to 32 MU St Athan and spent 2½ years banging rivets into Meteor rear fuselages and bits of Hunters. Then became an instructor at Kirkham, but after nine months was declared redundant and sent back to St Athan, 4 School of Technical Training, to instruct Boy Entrants. Sent to Germany in 1959 and ended up taking over from Harry Calvert on 213 'pursuit' squadron, Canberra B(i)6 - we stopped the war over Kuwait in 1961!
Following the filling in the 'Choice of Posting' form in 1961 I was sent to Cottesmore to be with Reid and Taff Webb on Victors, and 'centralised servicing' - soul destroying after being on a proper squadron. I got away by volunteering to become a 'Junior Education Officer' and after a 3-month course (to widen and educate us) it was back to St Athan to teach maths, science and technical drawing to Boy Entrants and later direct entrants.
To ensure that Bomber Command did not get me back I obtained a posting on paper to RAF Kenley but in fact it was for 18 months with the Ghana Air Force in Accra. (Geoff Cockroft was at Takoradi at the same time). This was not a secondment - Nkrumah was in power and overthrown whilst I was there!
Final year in the RAF as a Chief Tech was a posting to 49MU, Bicester, but working in the Integral Ltd factory, Wolverhampton, running a mod programme on hydraulic motors.
After a year or so as a sales rep for a shipping agent, Beck and Pollitzer, there was a return to aviation as a Technical Training Officer (Instructor!) with BOAC - all three people giving the job interview were ex-Halton! Being in the right place at the right time in 1973, at the age of 39 I became a cadet engineer officer (Flight Engineer) being trained on the 707, followed a few years later by the 747 (incredible piece of machinery once the early engine problems were sorted out) until retirement in 1990.
During the 1980s became heavily involved with railway preservation, Chairman of Preservation Society, owning industrial steam loco, sales officer of the national body, ARPS. Also very involved with Wallingford Museum, Oxon. Moved to Dorset in 1994 for a rest. However, last summer I came across a converted railway station in Cornwall that was for sale - so have had to move further west! Five children and eight grandchildren.
- RAF Halton and the Brats
- The Aircraft Apprentices Scheme
- Clubs, Societies and Sports at Halton
- RAF Halton's goats
- Tributes to Halton and the Brats
- The 69th and the Apprentices Network, 1951
- The Presentation of the Queen's Colour, 1952
- Summer Camp, RAF Formby, 1953
- The 69th and the Queen's Coronation, 1953
- The 69th's Graduation Review, 1954
- The Senior Entry - a graduate's letter, 1954
- A full list of 69th Graduates
- Halton days: stories from the 69th
- The 69th's Burmese Brats
- The 69th's commemorative window
- 69th Entry Reunions