The Royal Air Force Boy Entrants Association North America held its 11th annual reunion in the spectacular city of Richmond, British Columbia, Canada. Voted in 2010 the most desirable city to live in, the reunion was held 30th September and 2nd October 2011. The reunion was held in the River Rock Resort in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada. A total of 16 Ex-Boys plus their significant others were treated to a weekend of different events.
The Friday evening, held in a Penthouse suite, was the popular 'Meet and Greet' event. The weekend format was then disclosed and the ladies decided to have their own agenda, a shopping assault on an unsuspecting Vancouver.
On Saturday morning the boys were taken to the British Columbia Institute of Technology (B.C.I.T). This is the training facility for the civil aviation mechanics of today. The modern building houses many aircraft and classrooms which impressed many after recalling their bygone training days. The tour was hosted by one of the Instructors, Kal Tiwana, himself an Ex-boy who became the Engineering Officer at Scampton as the Sqn Ldr i/c A.S.F. He answered many questions and said it was a first for him to meet so many Ex-R.A.F guys since leaving the service.
The next stop was a visit to the local Seaplane terminal which -- by an amazing coincidence -- housed a Bar and good food. Lunch was then enjoyed by all before heading back to the hotel where at a casual meeting, the boys from San Diego said they would host the 2012 Reunion to be held in the warm city of Palm Springs.
The evening commenced with a delicious Full House Dinner Buffet which consisted of:
After a delicious dinner, everyone was treated to a surprise guest. Captain Peter Duffey joined Coastal Command during the war and joined Civil aviation at the end of it. Flying with B.O.A.C. and as it known today British Airways,he was one of the eight pilots selected to be trained and fly the Concorde. He flew up to his 60th Birthday when forced to retire due to Airline regulations. Captain Duffey is the only living person who has flown the Comet 1, the Comet 4 and the Concorde and found time to write a book called "Comets and Concorde". On October 1, Captain Duffey proceeded to talk to about his experiences to the delight of about 40 guests. By an unusual coincidence, the Concorde's first flight was on October 1st, over 42 years ago. Captain Duffey's sharp memory of events and technical knowledge of flying at speeds of Mach 2, the aircraft, world airports and his answers to all questions was amazing. To the question of "why did the R.A.F. not consider getting the Concorde?" his one word answer was "politics." Did you know it flew a mile every three seconds and grew 11 inches in flight! Well neither did we!
The model Concorde, over 2 feet long was then autioned off. There were many bids but John Halliwell had a bigger wallet and claimed the prize. Peter Duffey also signed it for him so John really has a one of model.
Sitting Left to Right: Bruce Allen 46th, Dave Cutbush 41st, Captain Peter Duffey, Peter Rushby 30th, Dave Mattingley (44th A.R.M. Cosford), Russ Lenthall 19th.
Sitting Left to Right: Carol Halliwell, Geraldine Bush, Gail Simpson, Captain Peter Duffey, Marianne Malley, Linda Paine, Julie Beatty.
Be sure to check out Brian Carlin's website and the new 396-page book Brian wrote. It's entitled "Boy Entrant The Recollections of a Royal Air Force "Brat". Brian takes us on the absorbing true story of his first major step on the journey of life that would mould him and his fellow Boy Entrants to become the "backbone" of the 1950's Royal Air Force.
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