Pen Portraits: what happened next
Pen portraits of post-graduation life, as submitted to the 69th Association newsletter over the period 1994 - 2011. The dates in brackets refer to when the portrait appeared in a newsletter
Aircraft apprentices march in shirt-sleeve order from their living quarters to the workshops at No. 1 School of Technical Training, Halton, Buckinghamshire, to begin their day's work, circa 1945. Source: IWM © IWM (CH 1018)
I booked a BOAC flight to the UK in September 1965. As we took off from Mingaladon airport, I was leaving a beautiful country full of eastern mystique (March 2008)
Yes, it was me who introduced the elderly fish to the rear of Sgt. Brice's filing cabinet! (February 1996)
Crashing V-bombers in a simulator (June 1995)
Disarming dropped bombs by hand (May 1996)
we were "escorted" from the terminal to the a/c at gun-point - at the other end of the barrel was a member of the PLO (September 2000)
Interviewing celebrities for Radio Gibraltar (September 1995)
When I eventually stand before the Assessor's desk at the Pearly Gates, I know what he is going to say: "Could and should have done better. Send him down!" (July 1998)
When the engineer went to start the engines the toilet flushed, he just got up and left, said nothing. We were called to fix it (April 2007)
Promoted to corporal in Feb 1957 and had an "undistinguished career" (June 1995)
Went for aircrew four times - was hoping to get it for 'good attendance'! (September 1995)
Our fellow guest at the airshow was Jim Lovell, recently returned from his trip on Appollo 13, and we had the pleasure of his company on several occasions during the week (January 1997)
Knocking weevils out of hard-tack biscuits in Nairobi (January 2010)
Sheep rustling in Australia (October 1996)
F-86 training in the US to the Burmese Ministry of Defence (July/October 1996)
Banging rivets into Meteor fuselages (July 1996)
St. Athan, Woomera and lots of missiles (July 1996)
St. Athan to ICBM launch-control systems (July 1996)
Back to Halton in 1959 as an instructor (June 1995)
Picking up statically-charged brake 'chutes from wintry runways (February 1996)
I moved from there to British Aerospace where I was a Chief Technical Author on the Concorde Air Intake Control System
From there it was to Cyprus for Suez plus two and a half years, then back to Wyton (February 1996)
This was my best posting in the RAF! I had a free technical mandate with no interference and a twice a year trip to the UK to report progress direct to Air Ministry
I played in the Riverside Jazz Band in Cambridge and also managed to sit in with Acker Bilk twice which was a good experience (April 2002)
- 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