The beautiful city of Victoria located on the southern tip of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada was the latest location for the North American Boy Entrants reunion. The reunion was held October 26-27, 2007 in the Harbour Towers Hotel, located just two blocks from Victoria harbor.
Friday, October 26 was an evening spent in the Harbour Towers Suite #1214 socializing, playing darts, dominos, and cards as well as just catching up on old times with all the other Brats. There were also sandwiches and salads available to help wash down the wine and beer.
Saturday, October 27
Meanwhile, the wives took in the sights around Victoria. They also met in the hotel lobby and divided up. Some wives went whale watching while others participated in some much-needed "retail therapy." All the ladies reunited at a local restaurant, at 12:30pm for a delicious lunch and to chat.
Cocktails were available at 6:00pm in Suite #1207 (what a fabulous view we had from the 12th floor of the harbor!) At about 6:45pm, Boy Entrant Doug Grant escorted the Brats and their significiant others into the dining room by playing his bagpipes.
What a great table centerpiece as Halloween was just around the corner. Those eyes look a bit familiar ... aren't those the infamous Boy Entrant wheel insignia?
A table was at the front of the banquet room which was filled with ex-Boy Entrant memorabilia. It was like taking a step back in time while browsing through all the old photographs, letters, books and medals that were on display. It also brought back alot of memories and alot of conversation was generated by all the memorabilia.
A yummy buffet dinner was available at 7:00pm. The speaker for the evening was Mr. Jeff Morris (formerly an ex-Boy Entrant apprentice) who is the Director of Operations of Angel Flights. A large bottle of wine was then auctioned off with the proceeds going to Angel Flights. The top bid was $50 with more than $320 being donated to Angel Flights.
After the auction, the ladies were asked to share their stories of what it's REALLY like to live with an ex-Boy Entrant! Door prizes followed with group photographs next and the evening was finished up with dancing.
Back row left to right: Martin Roberts (22nd A.R.M. Cosford), Gorton Lawrence (21st Arm Cosford), John McCauley (34th Airframes St. Athan), Jerry Bryce (35th A.R.M. Cosford), Jim Beattie (31st St. Athan), Mike Claydon (26th Teleg Cosford), John Halliwell (30th General Fitter St. Athan), Ian Drewitt(34th A.W.M. Cosford), Laurie Malley (38th A.W.M Cosford), Chris Simpson (26th Teleg Cosford), Jack Bush (32nd Inst St. Athan), Brian Carlin (29th Elect. St. Athan), Ted Motteram (29th St. Athan), Doug Grant (46th A.R.M. Cosford)
Front row left to right: John MacGillvray (46th Clk. Hereford), Dave Mattingley (44th A.R.M. Cosford), John Lawrence (34th AWM Cosford), Dave Williams (27th ElecAir St. Athan), Derek Cleverley (6th Entry Engines), Mike Williams (29th Inst St. Athan)
And, of course, we are including a group photograph of the ladies too. Afterall, if it weren't for these fine women, where would our ex-Boy Entrant fellas be today?
Back row, left to right: Julie Claydon, Janet Mattingley, Jacqui MacGillvray, Joanne Lawrence, Eve Williams, Shannon Grant, Wendy Drewett, Adrienne Williams, Wendy Bryce.
Front row left to right: Sheila Roberts, Geraldine Bush, Ann Lawrence, Barbara Cleverley, Carol Halliwell, Marianne Malley, Gail Simpson.
By the way, be sure to check out Brian Carlin's website and the new 396-page book Brian just 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 1950s Royal Air Force.
A location has been selected for the RAF North American 8th Annual Reunion - we're going back to the fun city of Las Vegas!
The Harbour Towers proudly raised the Royal Air Force flag on Saturday in honor of our RAFBEA North American reunion attendees. The men met in the hotel lobby at 10:30am and traveled via cars and mini-vans to the nearby Sidney Air Museum for a tour. Afterwards, the group stopped at a local pub for refreshments before returning to the hotel.
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