Formed on 24th July 1917, 44 Squadron was equipped initially with this aircraft, the Sopwith Strutter.

This edition of the newsletter has been circulated a little ahead of schedule to give members as much time as possible to make plans to attend this year’s reunion.

We are indebted to the Station Commander at RAF Waddington for allowing us to use so many station facilities this year. Despite the changes the station is currently undergoing, we have been granted access to the Officers’ Mess for our Meet and Greet on Friday and for the Association’s dinner Saturday evening. We will also be allowed onto the operational side of the station to to hold our

General Meeting on Saturday afternoon, to be followed by a briefing on the station’s mission. There is much to look forward to.

My thanks to our contributors to this edition. They include Adrian Sumner, Richard Standing, Jim Gardiner and Bob Manser. Please continue to send me your anecdotes, articles and letters. Personal contributions from members are the lifeblood of the newsletter.

Perhaps I should add a reminder at this point that the views expressed by contributing authors are personal ones which do not necessarily reflect those of the Association as a whole.

Membership Matters

Annual Subscriptions

Membership subscriptions were due on 1st November. Despite the ever-increasing costs of printing and postage, we have done our best to keep subscriptions down to a modest £10 per year. Despite this, a number of members continue to pay only £4. I would be grateful if those members could update their standing orders or BACS payments accordingly.

Changes of Address

D A Coutts
K A Palmer
Hugh Prior
R L Standing
Peter Taylor

New Members

Patricia Boswell
Sheena Mackay


Calling All Bomber Command Veterans

The archivists at the IBCC are keen to interview anyone who has served with Bomber Command between the end of WWII up until the 30th April 1968, when Bomber Command merged with Fighter Command to become Strike Command. If any of our members are willing to contribute their anecdotes, memories and experiences in support of this project they are urged to contact Phil Davies, who will arrange a suitable appointment. Phil Davis can be contacted by email at tourguide@internationalbcc.co.uk

Veterans in Action Appeal

My name is Chris Laycock. I am a veteran of Hampshire Constabulary having completed 35 years. I am 57 and in 1997 I was diagnosed with MS and now have to use a wheelchair. I am married to Jo and own 2 cocker spaniels.

In exercising our dogs we were travelling approximately 5 miles a day so we decide to set ourselves a challenge of completing the distance from Lands End to John O’Groats with the potential to raise funds for charity. So, last year, we set ourselves a double challenge which was to travel 876 miles and and lose 25 kilos of body weight. In the event, we travelled a distance in total of 1036 miles and I lost 35 kilos. We raised £1133.04 for the MS Society.

This year’s challenge is to try to raise £1000 for a charity called Veterans in Action which helps veterans suffering from PTSD. The aim is to complete 1038 miles by virtually visiting 15 war memorials using our local routes and tracks to complete the mileage.

We started at the Commando’s memorial at Spean Bridge and are ending at the Royal Navy memorial, Portsmouth.

At time of writing we are on leg 2. Scottish National War Memorial to The Allied Air Forces Memorial and Yorkshire Air Museum. 228 miles. We have completed 109 miles, then to RAF Helmswell, RAF Scampton and to IBCC via Lincoln Cathedral.

2022 virtual tour Veterans in Action £1000 for 1000 miles.

Leg 1: Commandos Memorial to Scottish National War Memorial = 136 miles

Leg 2: Scottish National Memorial to Elvington Yorkshire Air Museum. = 210 miles

Leg 3: Elvington Yorkshire Air Museum to RAF Helmswell = 59 miles

Leg 4: RAF Helmswell to RAF Scampton = 8 miles

Leg 5 : RAF Scampton to International Bomber Command Centre = 7 miles

Leg 6: BCC to National Memorial Arboretum = 76 miles

Leg 7: NMA to John Henry Carless bust. Lichfield Street, Walsall = 17 miles

Leg 8: John Henry Carless bust ,Lichfield Street, Walsall to Welsh National War Memorial = 114 miles

Leg 9:Welsh National War Memorial to Royal Wootton Bassett = 71 miles

Leg 10: Royal Wootton Bassett to Bomber Command Memorial, Green Park along Piccadilly, London = 85 miles

Leg 11: Bomber Command Memorial, Green Park along Piccadilly, London to The Cenotaph, Whitehall, London = 11 miles

Leg 12: The Cenotaph, Whitehall, London to Royal Engineers Museum, Prince Arthur Road, Gillingham, Kent = 34 miles

Leg 13: Royal Engineers Museum, Prince Arthur Road, Gillingham, Kent to New Dover Rd, Capel-le-
Ferne, Folkestone = 44 miles

Leg 14: New Dover Rd, Capel-le-Ferne, Folkestone to RAF Bomber Command Memorial, Beachy
Head Road, Eastbourne = 69 miles

Leg 15: RAF Bomber Command Memorial, Beachy Head Road, Eastbourne to Portsmouth Navy
Memorial, Clarence Esplande, Portsmouth = 76 miles

Final leg: Portsmouth Navy Memorial to Netley Police Memorial garden. = 19 miles
Total = 1036

Ed. If you would like to support Chris’s cause, please do so by visiting:

https://veteransinaction.enthuse.com/pf/chris-laycock

This remarkable work by Phil Neal stands proudly in front of the main entrance to the IBCC. It commemorates the massive humanitarian effort by Bomber Command in the late Spring of 1945 to alleviate the suffering of thousands of inhabitants in the western part of the Netherlands. The region had been subject to severe reprisals by the Nazis who were avenging train strikes in support of Operation Market Garden, which included the Battle of Arnhem. Food became very scarce and over 20,000 people had died of starvation, with a further 980,000 at risk and classed as malnourished. The harsh conditions were made all the worst by the severity of the winter of 1944/45.