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On my tour, I will be making special additional visits to pay my respects for some of Dad’s wartime friends who died.

On this week of remembrance, I would like to list them (in no particular order):

Stanley Wheatley ‘Ack’ Greenwood 
Killed during a training exercise off Lytham St Annes in February 1942. He is buried at Hessle Cemetery, Hull.

Jimmy Ward in 1941

Flight Lieutenant James ‘Jimmy’ Ward
Died in a flying accident in a Gloster Meteor for the RAF in 1952. His remains are interred at Landican Cemetery, Birkenhead.

Squadron Leader Joe Berry DFC**

Joe Berry, courtesy of Graham Berry 2014

Killed in October 1944, shot down in Holland by small-arms fire. Joe is buried in Holland, but Eden Camp Museum in Yorkshire has an exhibition featuring him, and the V1 bombers he combatted: Joe Berry had the highest number of successes in shooting them down.

Pilot Officer Kurt Kenneth Keston Pelmore
Killed with his Wellington bomber crew on a mission to Dusseldorf on 27 December 1941. Keston founded the Bentley Owners Club, and I will be visiting their museum near Banbury.

And finally:
Sergeant Pilot Tommy Hunter, who died on returning from an intruder operation over the continent in September 1941. His plane, a Whirlwind fighter, ditched in the sea and no trace of him was ever found. He has no grave, but is commemorated at the Monk Hesleden (Blackhall Colliery) cemetery in County Durham. I will also visit Predannack, from where took off on his final mission. A moving memorial at Predannack has these words, so very apt for Dad’s friend Tommy Hunter:

Tommy Hunter
1941

This memorial honours all ranks and nationalities
that served here during World War II.

 While casting your eyes on this memorial
spare a thought for those who flew from here
and failed to return, many have no known grave.

“Like a breath of wind, gone in a fleeting second,
only the memories now remain.”

The schedule for the Where They Served tour, April to September 2015 is now out.  See it on my SCHEDULE page. Dates will change, as various airfield venues are consulted and the RAF Benevolent Fund and the various RAF stations have all had their say – but the shape of it should work. It includes 6 airshows and 13 currently-serving RAF Stations or training facilities. I have also added some stops which are not on Dad’s list of airfields, but they are perhaps some of the most important, as they are there to pay tribute to some of his closest friends who did not live to see the end of the war.

Elizabeth is modelling Ground Control’s proposed solution to wet-weather driving without a hood: a World War I (we think) dispatch rider’s coat, which belonged to GC’s late brother, who probably bought it at a classic car auction somewhere in the dim and distant past. It’s so stiff and heavy it virtually stands up on its own.  It smells of old canvas.  The sleeves come almost to her knees. Elizabeth refuses to wear it for driving, and thanks Liz Heyer for her excellent alternative suggestions!

It just shows how careful one has to be with photographs.  Here’s Where They Served – right in front of the beer tent!

Parked up at the Rising Sun Hotel near Pre-War Prescott. Not bad, eh?

As a matter of record, it took me 1 hour 45 minutes to get Chattie onto the back of the Sprinter and firmly tied down, at the end of Pre-War Prescott. Working on my own, it’s hard work, but this was always part of the challenge. We have some modifications to make to the rig, which will make it easier, like loops to go round the wheels instead of wrapping the webbing round. But here, for the record, is the result, which I’m glad to say lasted the whole way home.  Here Chattie is shown still tied down on the way to Rygor’s of Kidderminster, for the Sprinter to have its service.  Easier to leave Chattie on the back, after all that effort. Here I’m showing off my finished rigging.  Not the best, perhaps, but MY best!

Chattie tied down according to Elizabeth Halls. Blood, sweat and tears (all right, sweat, anyway) went into that, I can tell you!