War Veteran almost “flies west” unnoticed

After an appeal from the Rotherham branch of the RAF Association, Cadets from 218 Squadron joined hundreds of people in attending the funeral of a WW2 veteran who died with no surviving family members.

Former RAF pilot George Thompson died on 14 May, aged 96, at the care home where he spent the final few years of his life.

Concerned that the veteran would not be given a proper send-off as he had no surviving relatives and few friends, the RAFA members commenced a campaign to urge members of the public to join in the service at Hutcliffe Wood Crematorium in Sheffield.

We were joined by current and former members of the RAF, Cadets from other squadrons, Navy and Marine Cadet members, police, fire service, other veterans, serving HM Forces personnel and standard bearers to form a guard of honour. The funeral was attended by hundreds of people who had never met Thompson, hoping to give him a proper goodbye.

Speakers broadcasted the service so those standing outside could hear the ceremony taking place inside the crematorium.  The Battle of Britain Memorial Flight had a message of remembrance read out and the poem ‘Flying West’ was recited.

The tribute to WO George Thompson stated that he began training as a pilot on 13 April, 1942, and flew his first solo flight just 17 days later.

During his time as a pilot he flew bombers in the USA and Canada before training to become a night fighter, where he was deployed to look for Japanese incursions over the Burmese Jungle until the end of the war in 1945. After leaving the RAF the following year, he married his wife Wilfred Mildred, who passed away in 2004. The couple did not have any children together.

Three Steps to Heaven.

218 Squadron cadets took the first step of three on this year’s journey towards the Drill Championship.

With strong competition from across South and West Yorkshire Wing, but particularly this year from 2387 Pudsey Squadron, the drill squad had to be at their very best. Judging this year was undertaken by staff from Central and East Yorkshire Wing, and because of the changes in weather on the day, the inspection was carried out indoors. Outside it was raining cats and dogs.

In Psalm 97, it says “Light shines on the righteous,” and as soon as the inspection was over the clouds cleared to give the squad a best wishes from upstairs. The sun remained shining down as they performed the required sequence of manoeuvers. The squad then marched off to great applause. Literally seconds after they had finished, the heavens open again and the rain came thumping down.

At the end of the day Rotherham came first, continuing a tradition of being in the top 3 since 1956. FS Dovey came second as NCO i/c despite last year being 5^th in the entire ACO at the Corps championship.

Also of note was Cdt Fair who managed a respectable third in our first year of entering the First Aid competition.

With the Regional Competition just 3 weeks away the members of the squad must continue to try to find the balance between revision of GCSEs and A-Levels, and the need to practice hard to ensure they give it their best shot at trying to get to the Corps competition again.

Thanks go to the Staff who put on an excellent competition day with lots going on despite the poor weather.

Despite this being a very successful day, I’m sure that staff and cadets would appreciate some consideration given to the timing of the competition which clashes unfavourably with important exams.