ISSUE NUMBER THREE     JUNE 2002

  This is is a "sanitised" version of the original sent by email of snail mail. i.e. email and real addresses etc. have been removed

Hi Guys,

It is the 6th of the month, the festivities are over and so I hope are the hangovers, now it's back to work.

 First of all can I thank all of you who have sent me input for this newsletter. Without you I really would struggle especially as we are between reunions so to speak.

THE ASSOCIATION. We currently have 52 members, which is an increase of 2 since the last newsletter. We need you to help in digging the reluctant members of our entry out of the woodwork and getting them into the Association.

SUBSCRIPTIONS  Let's get the bad news over first, all of you who are still annual members are a little behind with your dues. The £5 was due to be paid in April, so please, all of you who wish to remain annual members put your hands in your pockets and let Mike have your subs. There is however an alternative, you can, like 2I of us already have, become a life member. The cost is currently £20 and the bonuses are:- I) you don't have to remember to send your £5 off every year. 2) As a life member you get an association tie at no extra cost. If however you still wish to remain an annual member you can buy a tie at a cost of £8.50 by contacting Mike Williams.

I must say it doesn't take a degree in maths to work out which is the best deal. Just a reminder, cheques are made payable to 68 th Association.

TREASURERS REPORT. We are currently running two accounts, the Association account and the reunion account. The standing of both funds is.

Association account            £233.24

Reunion accounts               £854.I0

TOTAL                £I087.34

Major expenditures have been, £463.22 paid out for ties and £400 as a deposit to the Hotel for the reunion.

A word from Mike. One or two people have already paid in full for the reunion and some others are 'drip feeding' cash to me. Do keep the drip feeds coming, as it will ease the pain the nearer we get to April 2004. We do however need your deposits now, as we must have an idea of numbers attending. Please fill in the pro-forma at the bottom of my letter and return it a.s.a.p. We don't want anyone to be disappointed.

NOTE. I will be sending a copy of Mike's latest letter and timetable out to those of you who aren't on the Net with your copy of this newsletter and life member's ties.

BRAINTEASER. You can blame Ces Holmes for this one. He has managed to get hold of a schools finals paper for the 39th Entry. The exam was taken on 6th June I944. (D-Day) Here's the question. The area of a rectangular park is 60 acres and its length is one and a half times it's breadth. Find the cost of enclosing the park at an average price of 9d per ft. run. (Old money) I don't need the answer but the question goes to show how brilliant and clever we were in those far off days. Thanks Ces.

RAFHAAA GOLF SOCIETY. The society started in I984 when I0 ex Apprentices got together at Bedfordshire GC. A small shield was purchased and played for. I6 turned up in I985 and 30 in I986. Late in I986 the society was formed, a constitution written and a President appointed. Cyril Large (ex 67th ) became secretary and still is today. The society is now I00 strong and we play for 24 trophies annually as well as matches against RAF Halton and RAF Cosford Golf Societies. There is also the entry cup, which is played for. The season starts in April and finishes in September.

Cyril arranges annual trips for members and wives, this year it is at Bowood Golf and Country Club in Wiltshire we go for three days of good golf and gracious living. The Society entry fee is £I.00 with an annual fee of £7.00 and handicap range from 7 to 28. If you wish to join get in touch with me through John.

Keep swinging.

Tony Whiting.

MY LIFE AFTER HALTON. I arrived back in New Zealand in May of 1955, having travelled by boat from U.K. with the rest of the 68th New Zealanders. My first A/C posting was on Sunderlands where I spent a year before going on to pilot training. After training and conversion courses I found myself back on Sunderlands only this time I was flying them. A medical problem with my shoulder caused me to be grounded and I was offered a return to civilian life, which I accepted. The shoulder got better and I was accepted as a pilot with the National Airways Corporation as first officer on D.C.3's.  I did a stint on F‑27's and returned to D.C. 3's as captain. Over the next 20 or so years I flew a variety of aircraft finally finishing on B767. My interests then turned to purchase and refurbishment of old aircraft and I finally retired from flying at 65.

A re-occurrence of my shoulder injury has put paid to my golf so I now tutor on computer for our senior citizens and get pleasure from driving cars.

Bill Howell (Engines)

NOTE:  The input from Bill was much more detailed than printed above. He has, however at my suggestion sent a copy to Roy Thompson in Colorado Springs for inclusion in the book that Roy is writing.

A CAUTIONARY TALE. Dickie Lees received an 'E' mail message from a friend to say that he had inadvertently passed on a computer virus and that he should delete a certain file. This he did. About an hour later the same friend sent another message to say that the virus was a hoax and to re-instate the file. Fortunately Dickie had not emptied his recycle bin so was able to comply, with no damage done. The moral of this tale is; - if you get a message to say you have been passed a virus check one of the virus web sites to establish if it is a hoax before you do anything.

The one piece of info Dickie didn't send was the virus page address. Sorry!!

SEARCHING FOR FRIENDS. Since the last newsletter I have come up with a couple of useful sites if you are searching for friends.

WWW.old‑friends.co.uk , WWW.GatesOfRememberance.com  WWW.saga.co.uk/circles

The beauty of the last one is that if you enter your name against a unit or squadron etc. you automatically get a message if anyone else puts their name down against the same unit or squadron.

Alec Dearness is looking for help finding Mike Stocks. Apparently he married a Maltese girl when he was on 37 Sqdn and Alec thought he might be living in Malta. If any of you go to Malta on holiday this year could you look in the phone book to see if he is listed and let me know. It's a long shot, but worth a try.

RAFHAAA  PETERBOROUGH BRANCH.

This branch of the Association currently has 31 members. The Chairman being Terry Moore (ex 66th / 68th) the secretary is Eric Broughton (68th ) and the welfare member is none other than our President Tony Whiting.

They organise a full range of events throughout the year; most of them are centred around aircraft, but not all. They meet once a month and their A.G.M is in February. Eric extends a warm welcome to anyone in the local area who wishes to join and even if you are just passing through get in touch they will be very pleased to see you.

THE OK CORRAl. Tim and Beryl Holt decided to escape the cold of Calgary for the warmer climate of Arizona to be exact Tombstone. Disappointment abounded with cars parked on Main Street and the 0. K. Corral for which they paid $5 entrance turning out to be a lean-to on the side of a yard. The trip to Boot Hill recovered the situation for them. Sitting on the only bench for miles were a middle aged couple who from their accents came from the Smoke to use Tim's words. They then spent a very informative I5 minutes being told all about the Clantons and the McLaury's. The Moral is; -  if you want to know anything, ask a Londoner. If he doesn't know it he will make it up.