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Tribute to Terry Clark DFM
We are saddened to hear Battle of Britain veteran Terry Clark DFM passed away yesterday. Terry was one of two remaining air crew, The Few, who took to the skies in the summer of 1940 to defend Great Britain against Nazi invaders.
"We were glad we wouldn’t hear the sirens anymore"
As the nation prepares to mark 75 years since VE Day tomorrow, RAF veteran Nobby Hill tells us what it was like as a teenager. Nobby, now 89, joins a weekly Telephone Friendship Group chat which keeps him company during the isolation of lockdown.
"I remember dancing in the street with mum and dad"
As the nation looks to commemorate the 75th anniversary of VE Day on Friday, we spoke to RAF veteran Reg Lawrence about what he remembers from the historic day. Just a teenager at the time, Reg would go on to serve in the RAF in the 1950s.
"I had never seen so much food in all my life"
Warrant Officer Jack Watson will mark the 75th anniversary of VE Day quietly, remembering his comrades and the 'band of brothers' who saw him through 77 operations flying with Bomber Command during the Second World War.
Pulling together with the support of the Fund
Chief Technician Mike Hawkins joined the RAF in Feb '99, serving as a TG5 Technician. Today, Mike is based at RAF Brize Norton and competes in the RAF Tug of War team, proud supporters of the Fund.
How the RAF helped a Derbyshire town bolster its flood defences
In our second blog to mark the 75th anniversary of Operation Manna, we take a look at one of the more recent humanitarian aid missions undertaken by the RAF. Record rainfall last August had left a dam in Derbyshire in danger of breaching its defences, threatening a town below. Within hours of receiving the call, a Chinook was on site, dropping tonnes of gravel to shore up the defences.
RAF Benevolent Fund Trustee to lead latest NHS Nightingale Hospital
Monday saw the opening of the seventh NHS Nightingale Hospital in Bristol and at its helm will be RAF Benevolent Fund Trustee Marie-Noelle Orzel.
Commemorating the 75th anniversary of Operation Manna
Seventy-five years ago today a group of young pilots and their crews began a series of daring raids which saved a starving nation. The Op Manna food drops over the Netherlands became one of the first humanitarian aid missions undertaken by the Royal Air Force in the dying days of the Second World War.
RAF Benevolent Fund provides activity packs for RAF Odiham families
Families at RAF Odiham have received activity packs to help keep children occupied during the ongoing coronavirus lockdown. The activity packs are the result of a grant awarded by the RAF Benevolent Fund, the Royal Air Force's leading welfare charity.
"Without the Fund I'd spend all day on my own"
RAF veteran Reg Lawrence thoroughly enjoys his weekly chats with his friends on the Fund's Telephone Friendship Group. Now as the country is locked down and vulnerable elderly residents are shielded from COVID-19, he values the contact more than ever.
