The History of Easingwold Air Cadets - Central & East Yorkshire ...

40th Anniversary Edition 

The History of 

Easingwold Air Cadets 

By Squadron Leader Brian Mennell 

B Sc (Hons) GCGI RAFVR(T) 

1

Squadron Leader Brian 

Mennell presents Cadet 

Snowdon with the Rock it 

Ball Player of the Year Award 

2009. 

Author’s Note 

I have attempted to portray the squadron 

history by taking small snap shots of each 

year and highlighting them. Obviously 

many normal activities continued 

throughout the years, including sport, 

swimming, model making, drill, training 

courses and the academic subjects. I 

have made little mention of any of them to 

avoid repetition and only limited mention 

of the Duke of Edinburgh's Award, but 

they have always featured on the 

squadron. Indeed the cadets have always 

done very well at all of them. Equally, I 

have tried to mention as many of the 

people as possible, be they cadets or 

adults, involved in the squadron. Inevitably I will have missed some 

and for that I apologise. I would like to think that most key players 

have appeared, at least somewhere in this publication and that 

overall the squadron’s history is portrayed as accurately and as 

interestingly as possible. 

I could not have achieved this task without the help of those who, 

over the years, maintained the squadron scrap books. The 

photographs, cuttings and information in them made all the 

difference. I would also like to thank Liz Page, the Editor of the 

Evening Press for allowing the re-production of several of the 

photographs herein. I also thank past and present members of the 

squadron who have contributed, but in particular Wing 

Commander Ray Kidd OBE. 

2

Appointments and Awards 

Commanding Officers 

1969 – 1974 Flight Lieutenant R. Kidd 

1974 – 1977 Flight Lieutenant E. Astley 

1977 – 1980 Flight Lieutenant S. Palmer 

1980 – 1983 Flight Lieutenant M. Boyle 

1983 – 1987 Flight Lieutenant R. Preston 

1987 – 1994 Flight Lieutenant A. Swales 

1994 – 1998 Flight Lieutenant B. Mennell 

1998 - 2000 Flight Lieutenant D. Walker 

2000 Flight Lieutenant P. Sewart 

2000 Flight Lieutenant B. Woodburn 

2001 Pilot Officer J. Mennell 

2001 - 2005 Flight Lieutenant P. Sewart 

2005 - 2006 Flight Lieutenant J. Mennell 

2006- Squadron Leader G. McElroy LCGI 

Presidents 

1986 – 1992 Squadron Leader E. Broad DFC RAF Ret’d 

1998 – Wing Commander R. Kidd OBE RAFVR(T) Ret’d 

Squadron Chairman 

John McFarlane, Ernest Broad, Gerry Flanagan, Phil Burridge, 

Barrie Dearlove, Claude Savage, Ray Kidd, Joe Weston, 

Dennis Tottie, Brian Mennell. John Sutherland, Chris Mason 

Cadet Warrant Officers 

Peter Hutchinson, Andy Ingham, Duncan Braid, Paul Fewster, Richard 

Flanagan, Tim Richardson, Paul Sewart, Natalie Train, Mark Stubbs, 

Jonathan Mennell, Andrew Ellis, Jill Rawson, Chris Fawcett, Greg Love, 

Jade Lawson, Carl Alsop 

Gold Duke of Edinburgh Award Winners 

Gary Davidson, Tim Richardson, Gary Mennell, Nick Preston, 

Paul Sewart, Scott Bissett, Jonathan Mennell, Chris Wilson, 

Natalie Train, James Wiggins, Mark Stubbs, Adam Croft, Greg Love. 

3

Chapter 1 – In the beginning 

The formation of the Air Training Corps 

The Air League of the British Empire, 

was an association of private 

citizens, founded in 1909 to 

advocate to a not too enthusiastic 

public the need for air defence and 

the development of civil aviation. 

Their constitution authorised it to 

engage in any activity which would 

lead to a better understanding of the 

part the aeroplane must play in the 

country's prosperity and security, or 

which would increase Britain's 

strength as an air power or in the 

sphere of commercial aviation. 

In 1933 they 

appointed a retired 

Royal Air Force 

Officer, Air 

Commodore J. A. 

Chamier CB CMG 

DSO OBE (later Sir 

Adrian Chamier) to 

the post of Secretary 

General. Having left 

a distinguished 

career in the Royal 

Air Force, he was to throw himself 

into his new post with vigour and 

unbounded enthusiasm and energy. 

He was to advocate and promote 

many ideas to further the aims of the 

association, but among the greatest 

was his proposal to start a cadet 

scheme for young men interested in 

aviation. 

In January 1938 the Air League 

agreed to support such a scheme 

and enlisted the support of Marshal 

of the Royal Air Force Sir John 

Salmond GCB CMG CVO DSO and 

Mr Simon Marks (Later Lord Marks) 

from the financial sector. Lord Marks 

not only gave a large donation to a 

central fund but he brought to the 

organisation his extensive business 

and financial acumen. Lord Marks 

was to insist that Squadrons were 

not to be dependant on a central 

fund, although it would be there to 

help, but were to be largely selffinancing 

and controlled by a 

committee of local citizens. This 

fundamental rule was to be effective 

and indeed see the future 

organisations into the next century. 

It was in October 

1938 that the first 

Squadrons of the 

Air Defence Cadet 

Corps, as the new 

scheme was to be 

called started 

parading. Before a 

Squadron could be registered its 

committee had to certify they had 

raised or had guarantees for at least 

£200 to meet the first years working 

and were reasonably sure of raising 

similar amounts in successive years. 

Cadets wore a uniform similar to 

RAF issue, together with a forage 

cap and belt with chrome crested 

4

clasp. Officers were selected by 

committees and commissioned by 

the Air League and had to purchase 

their own uniforms. Cadets paid 

three pence a week, many also 

paying for their own uniforms, either 

directly or with the help of the local 

committee or the central fund. The 

Air Ministry promised a capitation of 

three shillings and six pence per 

proficient cadet. 

By the end of the year forty-one 

squadrons had registered and more 

followed. The first fifty were to be 

allowed to put the letter “F” after their 

number as “Founder” Squadrons 

and this was to be retained when the 

A D C C was to become the A T C. 

Initially both officers and cadets 

paraded in civilian clothes or boiler 

suits but by the end of the same year 

uniforms were being issued. 

Chamier inspects new ADCC Cadets in boiler suits 

At the outbreak of war on 3 rd 

September 1939 there were 172 

Squadrons. Many Squadron 

members were to volunteer for war 

work. Air Ministry assistance 

increased during 1940 but many 

officers, including Chamier, were 

recalled to the services and this had 

an effect on Squadrons and their 

activities. However, while a few 

faded out, others were formed and 

flourished. 

With a war to be fought and the need 

for young men to man the bombers 

to take the offensive to Germany 

there were strong demands across 

the country that the Government 

should take over the Corps 

altogether. 

Despite political 

objections, as the 

Government had 

never controlled a 

youth organisation 

before, it was on 5 th 

February 1941 that 

the Air Training 

Corps was established to replace the 

Air Defence Cadet Corps. 

Interestingly, most political 

objections were overcome when the 

decision to leave the administration 

of squadrons in the hands of local 

committees was announced. 

His Majesty King George VI was to 

become Air Commodore in Chief of 

the Air Training Corps and to 

authorise its existence by Royal 

Warrant. Air Commodore Chamier 

was to be appointed the first 

5

King George VI with Chamier and Mr William 

Wakefield MP (Head of ATC from January 1942) 

Commandant with Headquarters at 

Stanmore, north of London. Besides 

training cadets, squadrons were also 

training adults known as “Deferred 

Servicemen” who had been 

accepted into the RAF but for whom 

there were no immediate vacancies 

at training units. By the end of the 

war the figures totalled 30,000. 

An important step in 1942 was the 

start of training courses for officers, 

now commissioned in the Royal Air 

Force Volunteer Reserve (Training) 

Branch. Leadership was the 

keynote. Air Chief Marshal Sir Robert 

Brooke-Popham GCVO KCB CMG 

DSO AFC who supervised the 

courses said, ”The most important 

job for officers, now and in the future, 

is to draw out from the cadet’s heart 

his latent virtues and to bring them to 

the surface for the benefit of 

mankind.” 

In January 1944 Air Commodore 

Chamier said farewell to the Corps 

and by the following year with the 

war coming towards its end more 

than enough men were available for 

aircrew duties - in fact there was a 

large surplus. Over 27,000 cadets 

were drafted into the army. This was 

a bitter disappointment to cadets, 

officers and instructors who feeling 

that their work was done, started 

leaving the Corps and many 

squadrons inevitably closed down. 

Marshal of the Royal Air Force Lord 

Portal as Chief of Air Staff during 

World War Two, was to say of the Air 

Training Corps in 1944, “During the 

four years since the Air Training 

Corps was formed in the critical days 

when the RAF stood vastly 

outnumbered and alone against the 

great German air fleets, over 

100,000 cadets have joined the RAF. 

Thousands more have gone to the 

Fleet Air Arm. During the past year 

alone over 25,000 cadets have 

entered the flying services. In 

maintaining the flow of men to the 

RAF, the ATC has made a decisive 

contribution towards victory” 

After the war the Air Training Corps 

was to settle into a peaceful role. A 

new Royal Warrant was issued in 

1947 redefining the aims to include 

training in citizenship, promotion of 

sports and the fostering of a spirit of 

adventure. 

The Taylor Report of 1955 laid down 

new recommendations about the 

way the Corps was to be operated 

and supervised and arrangements 

for air experience flying. By 1958 the 

ATC was to have its own fleet of fifty 

Chipmunk aircraft at thirteen centres 

within reasonable travelling distance 

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to all Squadrons. Each cadet 

would receive thirty minutes flying 

a year. Gliding was also 

expanded and centred at 27 

weekend schools manned by 

volunteers. Some 2000 cadets a 

year were sent solo and achieved 

the British Gliding Association “B” 

Badge. 

And so the scene is set of an 

organisation, which is now in its 

sixty eighth year. Much of the 

organisation and many of the 

rules laid down when the ADCC 

was formed way back in 1938 still 

hold well today. The motto 

“Venture – Adventure” advocated 

by Chamier back in that same 

year also remains today. 

Easingwold has played its part 

and this is the story of the air 

cadets of this small Yorkshire 

Market Town. 

Various pictures of cadets under training in the 

early 1940's. 

7

Chapter 2 - The first Squadron 

Joseph Rowntree School is in the 

small village of New Earswick on the 

northern outskirts of York. When it 

opened in 1941 the first Headmaster 

was Mr Eddie Lightowler. He formed 

an air cadet squadron from the boys 

attending the youth club at the 

school within a few weeks of the 

opening. The Squadron number was 

1457 and it was to have a sub-units 

at Easingwold Grammar School and 

Stamford Bridge. 

Mr Lightowler was not to know then 

that the air cadet bond between the 

A rare picture of a 1457 Squadron Cadet in full 

uniform. Shown is Frank Burkhill who was a 

member at Joseph Rowntrees School from 1941 

to 1944 when he left to join the Royal Air Force. 

The War Years 1941 to 1946 

school and Easingwold was to 

remain as from 1980 onwards the 

school was to supply many of 

Easingwold's cadets. 

Mike Smith was one of the first 

Easingwold Cadets. He went along 

with his friend Stan Ward from 

Brandsby in August 1941 to 

Easingwold Grammar School to "join 

up" aged sixteen. Stan joined the 

Royal Air Force on 6th April 1942 as 

a pilot, training in Canada and 

remaining there as an instructor until 

1945. He returned to England 

towards the end of the war but later 

emigrated. 

Mr R. Dunn, the French master at the 

school was in charge of the unit. 

Mike remembers that first visit 

because it was the only time he went 

by car as Stan had just passed his 

test and borrowed his father's. All 

future parades involved him in an 

eighteen-mile round trip by cycle 

from the little village of Skewsby 

where he lived. 

They paraded in civilian clothes until 

just before Christmas 1941 when 

Mike visited the headquarters of 110 

(City of York) Squadron in Fossgate, 

York to be issued with his uniform. 

This consisted of a button up tunic, 

trousers and forage cap but no 

boots, shirt or overcoat. 

8

The Easingwold Squadron paraded 

three nights a week, Monday, 

Wednesday and Friday from 6.45 pm 

to about 9.30 pm and often on 

Sunday mornings for drill or for visits 

to RAF Linton on Ouse, even 

travelling there by bicycle. Among 

the staff was Mr Cussins of Cussins 

and Light, a well-known York 

company. Mr Cussins also taught at 

New Earswick so he was kept very 

busy. 

Mr Norman Bryning, the Headmaster 

would teach navigation and maths 

and Mr Carter from Northallerton, 

aircraft recognition. Mr Carter was a 

member of the Observer Corps and 

attended Squadron on an unusually 

black painted 350 cc Royal Enfield 

motor cycle. Another member of staff 

was Freddie Lawson who was to 

become the officer in charge at 

Easingwold when Mr Dunn left to 

start up an Army Cadet Unit in 

Easingwold (It is believed that this 

was disbanded after the war.) 

A further staff member with an 

interesting background was Frank 

Toase. He had been medically 

retired from the regular Army when in 

the Western Desert suffering from 

elephantiasis (a thickening of the 

leg). Being an ex Sergeant Major he 

became a Warrant Officer and was a 

strict disciplinarian but a very nice 

and respected man. 

Some of the cadets went into the 

Royal Air Force or the Army. Many 

though did not, as they were involved 

in farming and it was a reserve 

occupation. Mike remembers many 

of the cadets who were there during 

his time, which lasted until June 1943 

when he joined the Royal Air Force. 

Dickie Langstaff and Geoff Britain 

the Sergeants, Frank Hutchinson 

and Roy Muir the Corporals and as 

cadets – Stan Ward, Stan Bland, Ken 

Knowsley, Bill Sturdy, Ray Elsworth, 

Ron Munton, Claude Sigsworth, Jack 

Dutton, Jackie Sherwood, Charlie 

Sherwood, Geoff Metcalfe, Doug 

Sparrow, Laurie Morse, Ken 

Leckenby, Ernest Walker, Mickey 

Mansfield, Tommy Leighton, Dennis 

Brown and Denys Knowlson. 

There were of course others – he 

remembers Ron Munton accidentally 

shooting one named Pick, on the 

range with a .22 rifle. A number of 

evacuees from Hull were also 

members of the Squadron. Mr 

Dennis, the evacuees teacher was 

commissioned in the Home Guard at 

Brandsby but also taught the cadets 

morse code 

Shooting played a prominent part in 

the training, both rifle and small arms 

and one or two Sergeants from the 

Army Pioneer Corps at the Barracks 

at Crabmill Lane, Easingwold would 

attend to train the cadets. 

A girls unit also appears to have run 

parallel to the Squadron at the 

school. They too wore a blue uniform 

and were believed to be the Girls 

Junior Training Corps, the forerunner 

of the Girls Venture Corps. Several 

social evenings took place at the 

school between both units. 

9

The picture above shows Mike Smith (2nd row from front – 4th in from the left) when he joined the 

RAF on 5th November 1942 aged 17 years just after leaving the Squadron. 

It is also important to return to the 

Joseph Rowntrees School 

Squadron, as the links established 

then with Easingwold were to be reestablished, 

and play an important 

part in the history of the later formed 

2487 Squadron. Although the cadets 

from New Earswick and Haxby at 

that time attended the Joseph 

Rowntree School squadron, from 

1980 they were in the main to attend 

Easingwold. 

Frank Burkhill joined up at Joseph 

Rowntree School aged 15 and has 

no regrets – he thoroughly enjoyed 

his three years there before joining 

the RAF. They paraded twice a week 

and attended camps three times a 

year – generally RAF Linton on Ouse 

where they would take turns in 

working in the armoury or the 

parachute section. In the latter he 

remembers that cadets were 

forbidden to enter the actual repacking 

part of the section. 

Quite often the three elements of the 

Squadron would compete in either 

running or football. Social life was 

good as the local girls still attended 

the school youth club. 

The staff led by the tall and smart 

Eddie Lightowler included Arthur 

Duckworth, a teacher whose brother 

was the Lancashire Cricket Club 

wicket keeper, who taught drill and 

physical training, Laurence Cussins 

previously mentioned and Thornton 

Kaye a local solicitor. His brother 

played football for York City. Mr 

Proud, another teacher arranged 

flying. 

Also a member of the Squadron at 

that time was Cadet George 

Woodford. He remembers well the 

times at the armoury at Linton on 

Ouse when cadets would feed live 

shells into belts for the aircraft guns. 

Red, white and blue tipped shells 

had to be placed continually in that 

order. Each colour indicated a 

different shell – be it tracer, 

phosphorous or armour piercing. 

10

The Cadet’s Gliding and Flying Log 

Flying was available at Linton or at 

Clifton airfield and most cadets could 

fly on dummy bombing runs in the 

Halifax bombers or in Tiger Moths or 

Lysanders. Gliding took place at NE 

22 Gliding School at Kirbymoorside – 

the first such ATC Gliding School, 

opened in 1942. It was sited in a field 

adjacent to the Slingsby glider 

manufacturers. Later cadets would 

fly from Sutton Bank, near Thirsk, 

just above the famous chalk white 

horse on the hill – featured on the 

2487 Squadron crest. Gordon's 

gliding / flying log book is shown 

above. 

One Cadet of note at Easingwold 

towards the end of the war, was 

William (Billy) Slater (pictured 

opposite). He lived at Husthwaite 

and was a keen cadet. Academically 

gifted, he was to leave Easingwold 

Grammar School in 1945 to join the 

Royal Air Force on the Officer Cadet 

Scheme. He went up to Oxford 

University, the first Easingwold 

student to do so, before attending the 

Royal Air Force College, Cranwell for 

officer and pilot training. 

At his passing 

out parade on 

8th April 1949 he 

won a special 

commendation 

and was beyond 

doubt potentially 

a very fine pilot. 

After Cranwell he 

went to number 

74 Squadron at 

Horsham St 

Faith in Norfolk. There he flew the 

Gloster Meteor F 4 jet fighter. 

Horsham St Faith was a wartime 

base for the American 8th Airforce 

and is now Norwich Airport. He 

would often fly to Linton on Ouse in a 

training aircraft to visit his family and 

friends. He impressed all those with 

whom he came into contact, by his 

cheery good nature and his 

generous character. On 7th 

December 1950 whilst flying a 

Meteor jet fighter, some seven miles 

from home base, he was killed when 

his aircraft crashed at Salhouse 

following an engine failure. He was 

23 years of age and lies buried in 

Husthwaite Cemetery. 

In those early days of jet flying, 

accidents, particularly with the 

11

Meteor were many. In the 

event of an engine failure the 

aircraft would adopt an 

almost perpendicular dive 

from which the pilot could not 

recover. This appears to 

have been the case with 

Flying Officer Slater. 

After the war, 1457 Squadron 

ceased to exist and air cadets 

were to disappear from the 

streets of Easingwold. Cadets 

from Haxby and New Earswick were 

able to join 110 (City of York) 

Squadron based at Archbishop 

Holgates School in Lord Mayors 

Walk (now the College of Ripon and 

St John). 

In 1966 Flight Lieutenant Dick 

Harrison was to change all that and 

once again, the sight of air force blue 

was to re-appear, with what is still 

today the only military based youth 

organisation in Easingwold. 

The picture above shows Flying Officer William Alfred Slater 

standing – fifth in from the left) at Horsham St Faith with 

one of the Squadron’s Meteor jets. 

Above - Cadets, complete with parachutes wait 

to board a Halifax bomber for air experience 

flying at Rufforth. 

Cadets of 1457 Squadron march past the Saluting Base at York Minster where the Lord Mayor of 

York takes the salute at the Victory Parade. 

12

Chapter 3 – The Second Coming 

1029 (Thirsk) Squadron Detached Flight - 1966 

In I966, Flight Lieutenant Dick 

Harrison, then Officer Commanding 

1029 (Thirsk) Squadron Air Training 

Corps examined the possibility of 

forming a detached flight in 

Easingwold where he lived. A 

detached flight was an outstation of 

a Squadron which could parade with 

its own cadets and staff until there 

were sufficient cadets to gain 

Squadron status. 

An initial meeting was held in the 

Red Cross Scout Hut, Long Street, 

Easingwold in which twelve local 

boys showed an interest in joining. At 

that initial meeting was Flight 

Lieutenant John Hodson of the 

Central and East Yorkshire Wing, 

Corporal A. Rule of RAF Topcliffe 

and Mr C. E. Broad who all offered 

their support. Mr Broad, an eminent 

citizen of Easingwold and a wartime 

Spitfire pilot was to play a major 

supporting role over many future 

years. 

The initial response was insufficient 

for an immediate decision but thanks 

Ernest Broad in his wartime Spitfire 

to the excellent co-operation of Mr 

Gilbert, the headmaster of 

Easingwold School, seventeen 

pupils later expressed an interest 

resulting in the formation of the unit. 

Through the good offices of the Vicar 

of Easingwold the Reverend A. C. A. 

Smith MA accommodation was 

found in the Parish Hall. The Vicar 

became the flights padre. 

The unit was formed on 15th October 

1966 – as a matter of interest, the 

twenty fifth anniversary year of the 

formation of the Air Training Corps. 

During the same month the official 

opening of the Detached Flight took 

place, seeing the new cadets 

enrolled in front of their parents. 

Guest of Honour that night was Wing 

Commander F. D. Proctor DFC the 

Officer Commanding Central and 

East Yorkshire Wing. Wing 

Commander Proctor said he was 

greatly impressed by the caliber of 

the boys who had joined the 

Easingwold Flight. 

The first cadets enrolled at the newly 

formed unit were K. Allum, C.A. 

Bland, M. Brett, A. Medd, D. Earp, J. 

Gilling, P. Hattersley, T. L. Knowlson, 

A.J. McFarlane, R.D. Reynolds, F. 

Sampson, I.A. Stanhope, P.J. 

Swiers, T.W. Swiers, D. Tongue, K. 

Willis and W. Woollen Although 

fortunate in now having somewhere 

to parade, the cadets were restricted 

13

Wing Commander Proctor presents fourteen 

year old Charles Bland with his Record of 

Service Book at the opening ceremony. 

to parading one night per week due 

to other usage of the hall. All classes 

took place in separate corners of the 

one large room and all training aids, 

uniform and other equipment had to 

be removed from the building at the 

end of each parade night. Despite 

this a vigorous training programme 

was embarked upon with a full and 

varied outdoor programme of flying, 

gliding, shooting, adventure training 

and visits to RAF stations at 

weekends. Thanks to this and the 

high caliber of the young people, 

excellent results soon began to 

show, with Cadets Earp. Willis and 

Sampson being marked for early 

promotion. (Derek Earp went on to 

join the Royal Air Force and served 

with distinction as a Nimrod pilot). 

By 25th January 1967 the Flight was 

announcing that fifteen of the original 

seventeen cadets had a 100% 

attendance since formation and that 

all seventeen had achieved their first 

class badges. On Tuesday 16th May 

1967, a further parents evening was 

held and Cadets William Bramma, 

Brian Kitchman, Richard Laverick 

and Geoffrey Shirley were enrolled. 

In outlining the detached flight’s first 

few months, Flight Lieutenant 

Harrison stated that Cadet Sampson 

had been awarded his glider pilot 

wings, Cadet Willis was currently on 

a course and Cadet Medd was to 

start his course the following 

weekend. Sampson was the Flight’s 

first Non Commissioned Officer 

when he was promoted Corporal that 

evening. Cadet Earp had been 

nominated for a camp in Germany 

and Cadets Sampson, Willis and 

McFarlane had volunteered for the 

Nijmegen March in Holland in July. 

Cadets John Gilling, Peter Hattersley and David 

Tongue prepare breakfast at Rievaulx Abbey – 

Whitsun 1967. The camp was attended by 

fourteen cadets from Thirsk and Easingwold. 

Annual camp in 1967 was at Royal 

Air Force Kinloss on the Moray Firth. 

Sixteen cadets from Easingwold 

attended as did Flight Lieutenant 

Harrison and three Thirsk cadets. 

This was an excellent camp with the 

14

Above Cadet Corporal Sampson boards the Chipmunk 

aircraft while below left Cadets Kitchman and Bramma 

eagerly await their flights. 

Below right Cadet Corporal Willis about to launch two 

days later when 10 cadets visited RAF Catterick and 

flew in the gliders. 

15

chance to use the sea and sands of 

the Firth for sport and initiative 

exercises. The picture above was 

taken at the camp in front of a 

Shackleton aircraft. Flight Lieutenant 

Harrison is seated centre of the 

group. Up to this time Flight 

Lieutenant Harrison had run both the 

Thirsk Squadron and the Easingwold 

Detached Flight - no mean task. 

During 1968, the flight grew from 

strength to strength. Cadets 

McFarlane, Sampson and Stanhope 

attended camp at RAF Wildenrath, 

Germany during July. The main 

camp that year was at RAF 

Oakington with Easingwold winning 

the Wing Camp Shield, for the best 

unit at camp. (pictured above) 

Flight Lieutenant Harrison 

relinquished command from 1st June 

1968 when he was appointed to the 

Wing Staff. Flight Lieutenant Peter 

Jackson took over the Thirsk 

Squadron and Flying Officer Ray 

Kidd who had been second in 

command to Dick Harrison took 

command of the Easingwold Flight. It 

was Ray Kidd who was to spend the 

next year bringing the Flight up to 

sufficient numbers to gain Squadron 

status. 

16

Annual Camp in 1969 was at RAF 

Syerston and although the weather 

was very wet, a good time was had 

by all. 

A important event that year was the 

Central and East Yorkshire Wing 

Annual Parade which was held at 

RAF Linton on Ouse on Sunday 27th 

October 1969. Over four hundred 

cadets attended the parade which 

was inspected by Mr Trevor 

Faulkner, the Sheriff of York. Four 

Commandant’s Certificates of Good 

Service were presented that day, 

one of them to Cadet Warrant Officer 

Brian Mennell, then of 110 (City of 

York) Squadron, who was later to be 

Officer Commanding and then 

Chairman of the Easingwold 

Squadron. 

Later that year, twenty eight cadets 

from Thirsk and Easingwold took 

part in a sponsored walk over the 

White Rose Walk route from Kildale 

to Sutton Bank – some twenty five 

miles. The cadets raised £90 for 

squadron funds. Flying Officer Kidd 

completed the full distance much to 

his surprise and delight. 

A major milestone in 1969 was the 

achievement of Squadron status and 

the unit became 2487 (Easingwold) 

Squadron with effect from 1st July 

1969. The civilian committee formed 

then included Mr Gilbert, the school 

Headmaster and another teacher Mr 

John McFarlane who was the first 

Chairman. 

After all his hard work to achieve 

Squadron status, Flying Officer Kidd 

was promoted to Flight Lieutenant 

and became the Squadron’s first 

commanding officer. 

17

Chapter 4 – Squadron status 

2487 (Easingwold) Squadron –the first ten years 

The Squadron was formerly visited 

by Group Captain W. A. L. Davis 

CBE DFC AFC the North East 

Region Commandant on 20th 

January 1970 and he was to find all 

well. Two of the original cadets, 

McFarlane, now a Flight Sergeant 

and Gilling now a Sergeant had 

passed their Staff Cadet 

examinations with credit. Flight 

Sergeant Derek Earp left the 

Squadron to join the Royal Air Force 

as a pilot and he was presented with 

an ATC tie to mark the occasion. 

The table tennis team consisting of 

cadets Alan Pooley, Geoffrey 

Pittham, Mark Horner, Michael Riley 

and Clive Russell continued their 

unbeaten record against rival local 

squadrons and were top of the 

regional table. 

On Sunday 1st February 1970, York, 

Thirsk, Whixley, Northallerton, 

Harrogate and Knaresborough 

Squadrons joined with Easingwold 

to celebrate the 29th anniversary of 

the founding of the Air Training 

The picture above was taken at the Church door and shows left to right Reverend Smith, Mrs Davis, 

Wing Commander Proctor, Reverend Armstrong, Group Captain Davis and Flight Lieutenant Kidd. 

Photograph courtesy York and County Press. 

18

Corps at a service at Easingwold 

Parish Church. The parade and 

service were also to celebrate the 

new status of Easingwold Squadron. 

Unfortunately the parade which was 

to be led by Easingwold Town Band 

had to be cancelled due to bad 

weather. 

The service was attended by Group 

Captain Davis, and Wing 

Commander Proctor. The Reverend 

A. C. A. Smith, Vicar and Rural Dean 

of Easingwold and the Squadron 

Padre led the service and the 

preacher was the Reverend J. H. 

Armstrong, the Wing Padre. About 

200 cadets and local people 

attended the service. 

Flight Lieutenant Dick Harrison, the 

man responsible for starting it all 

re-visited the Squadron and was 

presented with a squadron plaque as 

a memento and “thank you” at the 

squadron open evening that year. 

On July 11th at quarter past twelve in 

the morning, fourteen cadets and two 

Annual Camp RAF Macrihanish 1970 

members of staff set off on their 

journey to annual camp at RAF 

Macrihanish near the Mull of Kintyre 

in Scotland. After thirteen hours of 

coach and steamer travel they 

arrived and were able to settle in to a 

well planned programme of events 

for the week. One of the members of 

staff was Alan Colley who had joined 

the squadron as a civilian instructor 

in November 1969. He was later 

commissioned but left within the first 

two years. Of the six squadrons 

present Easingwold was not only 

voted the best squadron but Cadet 

Sergeant Ingham was voted the best 

cadet. As always a good time was 

had by all. The camp picture below 

shows the cadets and staff who 

attended together with staff from the 

station. 

Cadets would often pay visits to 

Second World War aircraft crash 

sites. In September 1970, on a visit 

to Mickle-Fell, near Barnard Castle 

the wreck of a Short Stirling was 

found. The aircraft, number L K 488 

was flying with 1651 Heavy 

19

The picture above shows Cadet P. Spenceley, Corporal A. Ingham, Cadet C. Hattersley, Cadet R. 

Taylor and Flight Sergeant McFarland with some of their fifteen models at the parents open 

evening on Tuesday 21st April 1970. (Courtesy York and County Press) 

Conversion Unit out of RAF Wratting 

Common when it crashed, after 

being lost in cloud and low on fuel on 

19th October 1944. It was flown by 

Flight Sergeant P. D. Young who 

was killed along with all his crew 

except the rear gunner. 

This aircraft was to play a part in the 

squadron’s history. One of the 

propeller roots was used as the base 

for the Squadron mascot, a 

preserved kestrel. The work was 

carried out by David Astley, a 

professional taxidermist and son of 

Ernest Astley, a civilian instructor 

who had joined the squadron in 

November 1969. He was later 

commissioned in July 1971. With a 

face-lift in 2000 the Squadron 

mascot still looks proudly down on its 

cadets. 

During 1971 the squadron, now 34 

cadets strong, continued to flourish. 

News was to be received that excadet 

Derek Earp had completed his 

training in the RAF and had been 

awarded his pilots wings. 

With the squadron increasing in size 

the need to move from the Parish 

Hall to more permanent 

accommodation was paramount in 

the planners eyes and it was hoped 

that a new hut would be available in 

the not too distant future. At that time 

Flight Lieutenant Kidd, who had a 

20

twenty mile round trip by car each 

parade night, still had to carry all 

uniform and training equipment in his 

car as there was no storage 

available within the Church Hall. 

A major achievement in the year was 

the award of an International Air 

Cadet Exchange Scheme place to 

Cadet Flight Sergeant Andrew 

Ingham. His exchange was to be to 

the U. S. A. where he stayed with 

American families in New York, 

Miami and Washington. 

In Miami he had a front 

row seat for the blast off 

of Apollo 15. He was 

one of a party of thirty 

British cadets aged 17 

and 18 and they all took 

part in a number of civic, 

educational and 

aerospace events. 

Annual camp in 1971 was at RAF 

Wyton with seventeen cadets 

attending. Easingwold School 

swimming pool was a useful facility 

and was well used for swimming and 

dingy drill. 

1972 was a major year for the 

The picture above shows cadets gliding in 1971. 

Sergeant Ingham is in the foreground 

squadron with the move to its own 

headquarters building in Croft Close. 

The building had been completed in 

June and the squadron took up 

residence almost immediately. The 

building was given atmosphere with 

Dinghy drill was always fun 

model aircraft and many souvenirs 

collected in the past gave the 

building atmosphere. 

A number of cadets went to annual 

camp at RAF Hullavington. Corporal 

Topham spent a busy week attached 

to the Balloon Section (used for 

training paratroops). He became the 

squadron’s first cadet to ascend in a 

balloon before his week was out. 

One of the weeks highlights for all 

was a visit to Salisbury Plain to watch 

a massive air drop of several 

hundred paratroops and equipment 

from RAF Hercules aircraft. 

Squadron activities were not 

confined to the British Isles, 

Sergeant John Carr spent his annual 

camp in Germany and Sergeant 

21

Mark Elder took part in the Nijmegen 

March in Holland. The Duke of 

Edinburgh Award scheme became a 

regular squadron feature and 

expedition training a regular 

occurrence. 

On Sunday 3rd December 1972 the 

new Squadron Headquarters was 

officially opened by Air Vice Marshall 

Bird -Wilson CBE DSO DFC AFC a 

renowned Battle of Britain pilot and 

then the Air Officer Commanding, 23 

Group. Prayers of dedication were 

led by Canon Jack Armstrong. In his 

address to the cadets and their 

parents Air Vice Marshall Bird- 

Wilson said “Discipline gives you a 

sound foundation on which to build 

your lives. The ATC offers one of the 

finest training grounds for young 

Picture shows AVM Bird-Wilson talking to Flight 

Lieutenant Kidd at the opening ceremony. 

(Picture courtesy of York and County Press.) 

people and you will appreciate it 

more as you make your way in life.” 

He went on to warn against 

scruffiness – to be smart and walk 

tall. He added that the Squadron 

Headquarters represented a 

tremendous amount of hard work 

and community spirit and the Corps 

was grateful to the people who had 

made it possible. 

Local Councillor Squadron Leader 

Ernest Broad DFC, himself a 

distinguished war time fighter pilot, 

said Easingwold town and district, 

already grateful for the benefits 

offered to its young people through 

ATC activities, could show its 

appreciation by practical 

participation and support. Councillor 

Broad had been instrumental in 

gaining the support of the local and 

district councils to obtain the land 

and the necessary permissions to 

build the headquarters. 

The Air Vice Marshall concluded his 

visit by presenting awards and 

badges of promotion. The recipients 

were Cadet Flight Sergeant Taylor, 

Cadet Sergeants Carr, Astley and 

Hutchinson, Cadet Corporals 

Buckby, Brown, Watts and Cadets 

Penrose, Shaw, Wood and Phillip. 

Behind the scenes of all the pomp 

and ceremony of such a high profile 

visit, there is always the inevitable 

preparation. On his knees for the 

benefit of the squadron, pictured 

above right is Flight Lieutenant Ray 

Kidd completing the final floor polish 

the night before Air Vice Marshall 

22

Bird Wilson's visit. 

With one very busy and successful 

year out of the way, the pressure was 

not to be turned down in 1973. In 

January the squadron visited 1104 

MCU at RAF Bridlington and enjoyed 

an excellent day on the RAF Rescue 

launch, watching it work with the 

rescue helicopter. Among those who 

found their sea legs that day were 

Cadets Hutchinson, Downham, 

Penrose, Cove, Wallwork, Kilvington, 

Knowlson, Milburn, Thompson and 

Hughes. 

The Squadron was now parading 

twice a week on Tuesday and Friday 

evenings. 

On 17th April eight cadets flew in 

Varsity aircraft from RAF Topcliffe. 

Annual camp in July was at RAF 

Tern Hill, in Shropshire, a helicopter 

station (See picture on next page) 

Nineteen cadets attended and flew in 

the helicopters and in Chipmunk 

aircraft. Swimming proved fun in the 

Olympic standard swimming pool in 

Shrewsbury and thirteen cadets 

gained their RAF swimming 

certificates. 

Once again Easingwold Squadron 

came out top of the week and Flight 

Sergeant John Carr was presented 

with a certificate by the Station 

Commander. Sergeant Neville Astley 

was the squadron’s first cadet to 

attend camp at RAF Luqua in Malta 

whilst Sergeant Peter Hutchinson 

went to RAF Llarbruch in West 

Germany. Corporal Mervyn Brown 

successfully completed the one 

hundred mile Nijmegen March in 

Holland. 

1104 MCU operating with the Air Sea Rescue 

helicopter off Bridlington. Cadets enjoyed an 

excellent day with the RAF -at sea. 

23

First successes in the Duke of 

Edinburgh Award were now 

appearing with four cadets obtaining 

the Bronze Award and progressing 

through to the Silver. 

Community action also featured. The 

picture opposite shows Cadets 

Harrison, Herron, C. Wallwork 

Milburn and C.P. Wallwork busy car 

washing in Easingwold Market Place 

early in the year. Charging 25 pence 

a time the money raised went to the 

Archbishop of York's fund to buy 

medical supplies for a hospital in 

East Pakistan. 

The year culminated in the 

Squadron’s annual awards and open 

evening held at Headquarters where 

the guest of honour was the 

Regional Commandant, Group 

Cadet Camp at RAF Tern Hill in Shropshire 

Captain W. Davis CBE DFC AFC. 

Sergeant Hutchinson was promoted 

to Flight Sergeant and awarded the 

shield for personal effort. Other 

awards went to Cadet Sergeant 

Astley and Cadet Robinson. 

A special presentation of an award 

for bravery was made to Cadet 

24

Timothy Shaw. Whilst on his summer 

holidays in Cornwall Timothy and his 

friend Steven Richards had decided 

to climb up a cliff face from a 

deserted beach in a little cove. After 

about 30 feet, Timothy could get no 

further and decided to go back down. 

Steven however had got up ahead 

and appeared to be making good 

progress when he slipped and fell 

towards the boulder strewn beach 

below, landing heavily. 

The shock of seeing his friend fall 

gave Timothy a sense of urgency 

and having made his friend 

comfortable and dressing a head 

wound with his handkerchief, he took 

off his plimsolls and socks and 

waded into the sea to get help, not 

aware that the tide was coming in 

and that red flags were flying. Partly 

swimming, partly walking and at 

times, struggling to keep his head 

above water, he made his way 

around two headlands and into a bay 

where he saw two men, one fishing 

and the other picnicking. He shouted 

and told them of the accident, asking 

for their help and then carried on 

around another headland where he 

found a life-guard. 

Returning by the same route, 

considering it the only way round for 

speed he found the two men had 

already reached the scene and 

everything was under control. Steven 

was to spend a few weeks in hospital 

with three cracked vertebra. 

1974 was a year of change for the 

Squadron. Flight Lieutenant Kidd 

relinquished command on his 

appointment to the Wing Staff and 

Ernest Astley was promoted to Flight 

Lieutenant and took command of the 

squadron. Ernest, who had many 

skills, was particularly accomplished 

in the art of tailoring. With apparent 

ease, he was able to turn the most ill 

fitting uniform into a snug fit, adding 

a particular sparkle to the cadets on 

parade. 

Camp in 1974 was at RAF West 

Raynham. It was also in 1974 that 

Royal Air Force Topcliffe where 

Easingwold cadets had logged many 

hours of flying in Varsity aircraft, 

changed ownership and became the 

Army's newest barracks. With the 

lowering of the RAF standard the 

24th Air Portable Brigade moved in 

from Barnard Castle to join the Army 

Air Corps units already stationed 

there. 

Mark Boyle came to the squadron as 

a civilian instructor and joined 

Warrant Officer Geoff Wright who 

had been appointed the previous 

year. Interestingly Geoff and Ernest 

Astley had been colleagues many 

years before when both had served 

with 17 Squadron 

Royal Air Force in 

Japan between 

1946 and 1948. 

Ernest was a fitter 

on Spitfires and 

Geoff an armourer. 

Another person of 

note attending the 

squadron at that 

25

time was Polish airman Flying Officer 

Leszek Grzybowski, a wartime 

Squadron Leader fighter pilot, who 

flew with the Air Experience Flight at 

Church Fenton. He attended 

squadron to teach various subjects 

including navigation. 

The Squadron continued in strength 

during 1975 – the picture below 

shows Corporal D. Sampson being 

presented with his Nijmegen Medal 

by Flight Lieutenant Astley. 

1976 came and went with annual 

camp again at RAF Macrihanish. 

July of that year saw Flight Sergeant 

Duncan Braid beat all opposition to 

win the senior discus cup at the ATC 

National Athletic Championships 

held at RAF Cosford. Duncan, who at 

that time was also a member of 642 

Gliding School at RAF Linton on 

Ouse, had taken part in athletics at 

Wing and Regional level and had 

won fourteen gold and eight silver 

medals during six years membership 

of the Corps. He was selected to 

represent the Corps against Boys, 

Youths and Juniors from Birmingham 

later the same year. 

The most notable occurrence of 

1976 was the purchase of the 

squadron’s first minibus, in fact one 

of the first two in the Wing. The 

vehicle, a Bedford, was purchased 

from the Royal Navy and collected 

and driven back from the Royal 

Naval Air Station in Nottinghamshire 

by Flight Lieutenant Astley. With 

“Royal Navy” written all over it, an 

immediate re-paint was necessary, 

so using rollers, brushes and enamel 

paint, the cadets spruced it up to a 

fine Royal Blue finish. In those days 

markings were not allowed. 

So started a long tradition of 

squadron owned vehicles at 

Easingwold and all the problems 

associated with funding them. 

1977 saw adventure training 

weekends at Low Dalby and Keswick 

and annual camp at RAF 

Lossiemouth. Again selected cadets 

attended camps abroad in Germany 

and Malta and all in all the squadron 

remained vibrant and at full strength. 

There was so much interest, that for 

the first time the squadron started to 

parade three times a week, on 

Tuesdays, Fridays and Sunday 

mornings. There was talk of forming 

a Corps of Drums and Bugles but 

sadly this never materialised. 

Cadets continued to achieve awards 

26

with the Duke of Edinburgh Award 

Scheme at all levels. 

This year was Her Majesty the 

Queens Silver Jubilee and the 

Squadron played its part in 

Easingwold Town celebrations. Of 

particular note was the fact that 

Cadet Sergeant Marcus Rowland 

was selected as the sole cadet to 

represent the Central and East 

Yorkshire Wing at Her Majesty's 

Jubilee Review of the Reserve and 

Cadet Forces held at Wembley 

Stadium. This was a great honour for 

him and for the squadron. 

There was further distinction for the 

squadron that year when Cadet 

Flight Sergeant Andrew Penrose 

was selected to represent the Wing 

Sergeant Marcus Rowland 

in the International Air Cadet 

Exchange Scheme. 

One of the tasks that has been 

carried out over the years by the 

Officer Commanding the Squadron is 

to lead the Easingwold Town Parade 

on Remembrance Sunday each 

year. In the parade from the Market 

Square to Easingwold Church the 

Squadron CO was followed by 

members of the Royal British Legion, 

the cadets and other youth 

organisations. After the service the 

parade would return to the Market 

Square for a short service at the War 

Memorial and a march past. This 

simple but touching act of 

Remembrance is a privilege to 

witness. 

Ernest Astley leads the Parade 

At the squadron open night on 9th 

December 1977, it was announced 

that Flight Lieutenant Astley had 

been appointed to the Wing Staff and 

would be leaving as would Warrant 

Officer Wright who had reached the 

age where he was forced to hang up 

his uniform and retire as Squadron 

Warrant Officer. Both were 

27

presented with shields to mark their 

service with the squadron. Ernest 

Astley had been there seven years. 

Warrant Officer Bryce Lyons took 

over as Squadron Warrant Officer 

and Steve Palmer was to be 

appointed the Commanding Officer. 

Ray Preston had joined the staff and 

had been commissioned. 

Annual Camp RAF Marham 1978 

1978 saw annual camp at RAF 

Marham – the picture on the 

following page shows those who 

attended. 

In November 1978, Flight Lieutenant 

Peter Medhurst, a flying instructor at 

RAF Linton on Ouse, who gave up 

some of his free time to instruct on 

the squadron, took Cadet Corporal 

David Donaghy on a flight to 

remember. David had earned the 

reward for keenness and regular 

attendance. Flight Lieutenant 

Medhurst flew him in his Jet Provost 

training aircraft to RAF Leeming. 

The flight included flying over 

David's home and at low level in the 

Vale of York. Both are pictured 

opposite just before the flight. 

28

In 1979 the squadron purchased its 

own banner which was dedicated at 

a service in Easingwold Parish 

Church. The parade was led by the 

Band of 110 (City of York) Squadron 

with other squadrons in attendance. 

Annual camp in summer was at RAF 

Turnhouse and those attending are 

shown in the photograph on the 

following page. 

Thus concluded the first ten years as 

a Squadron in its own right. During 

that time it had gained its own 

identity, headquarters, minibus and 

banner. Two Commanding Officers 

had moved onto higher office with 

the Wing Headquarters and the 

squadron was well up to strength 

and meeting three times a week. The 

foundations were well set as the 

eighties approached – and the story 

continues. 

Annual Camp at RAF Turnhouse 

29

Chapter 5 – The eighties 

Well established and still going strong 

Well established and still going strong 

1980 brought about another change 

of command when Flight Lieutenant 

Palmer was promoted Squadron 

Leader and appointed Regional 

Public Relations Officer and Mark 

Boyle was promoted to Flight 

Lieutenant and became the 

Squadron Commander. 

The squadron attended annual camp 

at RAF Brize Norton with those 

attending shown above. 

Camp in 1981 was at RAF 

Coningsby where the group of 

cadets and staff attending gathered 

around the famous Lancaster 

bomber for the camp photograph, 

shown at bottom of page. Flying 

Officer Ray Preston the Squadron 

Adjutant is shown standing second in 

from the left. Two excellent camps 

enjoyed by all who attended. 

The highlight of 1981, was a formal 

visit to the squadron by the 

Commandant of the Air Training 

Corps, Air Commodore P. V. Mayall. 

He had requested a visit to a local 

squadron whilst he was in the North 

East Region and Group Captain 

Smith, the Regional Commandant 

had chosen Easingwold. This was 

the only time that the Air Officer 

Commanding the Air Cadets had 

visited Easingwold Squadron until it’s 

40th anniversary in 2009. 

30

The picture above shows Air Commodore Mayall (far left) speaking to several new cadets. 

From him left to right are Cadet Warrant Officer Paul Fewster, Group Captain Smith, Flight 

Lieutenant Mark Boyle and Cadet Sergeant Alastair Braid (brother of Duncan) with the five cadets. 

31

Also in November 1981 Alan Swales 

joined the unit as a Civilian 

Instructor. Alan, like Mark Boyle, was 

a gliding instructor and powered 

aircraft pilot and his expertise was 

soon put to use in the classroom 

teaching principles of flight and 

navigation. He was commissioned in 

1982 making a full complement of 

three officers at the Squadron. 

Annual camp that year was at RAF 

Bawtry, near Doncaster. Unlike the 

previous two camps that decade, 

Bawtry was not too exciting, being 

mainly a weather station, however, 

with RAF Finningley only a few miles 

away, Mark Boyle was able to 

negotiate quite a lot of flying from 

there which made the camp far more 

interesting. 

During 1982 the squadron took part 

in the Lyke Wake Walk on the North 

Yorkshire Moors. Supported by 

members of staff, several cadets 

completed the tough moorland hike. 

The picture above shows the 

“Glorious finishers” including Paul 

Fewster (second from left) Richard 

Flanagan (third from left) Alastair 

Braid (fourth from left) and Kevin Rae 

(second from right) 

1983 was to be a very busy year. 

Activities included an adventure 

training week at Pexton Moor Farm, 

a drill display at Easingwold Show 

and a visit to RAF Finningley's “At 

home day”. 

Football was very popular on the 

squadron and an excellent team had 

been formed culminating in their 

winning the Wing finals in 1983 

against 152 Squadron Detached 

Flight of Hull Grammar School. 

An interesting version of events 

appeared in the Hull Daily Mail and I 

quote “What a weekend it was for 

parents, officers and cadets 

connected with No 152 Detached 

Flight at Hull Grammar School. The 

cadets were involved in the Central 

and East Yorkshire Wing Cup. They 

fought cliff-hanger matches in the 

semi-final against Hawker Blackburn 

Squadron, Brough, on Saturday and 

Easingwold in the final on Sunday 

Hearts sank as they grappled with a 

3-0 half time deficit in the homematch 

with Brough. But Hull hit back 

and were level at full time. Skipper 

England missed a penalty in extra 

time which did not ease jangling 

nerves. Stephens scored Hull’s 

winning goal with just two minutes to 

go. 

Dale had his shooting boots on again 

on Sunday in the final at RAF Linton 

on Ouse against Easingwold. He hit 

32

a hat trick as both sides finished up 

level 4-4 at full time. A lofted shot two 

minutes from the end, robbed Hull of 

victory. The match went into a goalless 

extra time and had to be finished 

on penalties. Easingwold put away 

four of their five shots to win. 

The picture shows Wing Commander George 

Mitchell the Officer Commanding Central and 

East Yorkshire Wing presenting the cup to 

Easingwold's Cadet Daniel Widdowson. 

In a strange twist of fate the 

Squadron at Thirsk which had been 

the parent unit for Easingwold when 

it first started in 1966 as a Detached 

Flight, was itself made a Detached 

Flight in this year, this time of 

Easingwold Squadron. Flying Officer 

Chris Lodge was in command of that 

unit at the time. 

It was also during 1983 that the 

Squadron’s first Commanding 

Officer, Ray Kidd, was promoted to 

Wing Commander and appointed as 

the Officer Commanding the Central 

and East Yorkshire Wing. One of his 

first tasks was to visit his old 

squadron on Friday 19th November 

along with all the other previous 

commanding officers, Ernest Astley, 

Steve Palmer and Mark Boyle where 

the newly designed squadron badge 

was announced and each was 

presented with a wall plaque 

featuring the new crest. 

The crest was designed by Eric 

Reavill, a parent and committee 

member and described as follows – 

The horse is based on the original 

drawing of the White Horse of Kilburn 

by John Hodgson, who was 

instrumental in carving out the full 

scale version – measuring 228 x 312 

feet on the cliff adjoining Sutton Bank 

in 1857. The site is equidistant 

between the two neighbouring towns 

of Easingwold and Thirsk, the latter 

now supplementing the Squadron 

with a Detached Flight. 

The White Horse of Kilburn has for 

many years served as a landmark for 

pilots undergoing training in this area 

and has become well known as a 

33

means of checking their bearings, 

hence the double significance of the 

motto. An heraldic interpretation of 

the original design and carving 

should be instantly recognisable to 

them, perhaps with affection, 

particularly when coupled with the 

equally well known White Rose of 

York– also embodied to define the 

loyalty and necessary with the 

existence of other similar carvings 

elsewhere in the United Kingdom. 

The motto – For Guidance and 

Forbearing – also refers to the 

qualities advocated by the squadron 

at all levels and, no doubt, 

commended by those interested in 

youth leadership. 

It was one of the first “unofficial” 

badges to appear in the Region and 

for those interested in heraldry the 

full description is: Blazon – on a field 

of azure a horse statant argent – in 

the chief the Rose of York barbed 

and seeded proper – all within a 

circlet bearing legend “2487 

EASINGWOLD SQUADRON 2487 – 

AIR TRAINING CORPS” Lettered 

and bordered - crested by an astral 

crown. Motto “FOR GUIDANCE AND 

FORBEARING” 

The picture following shows Wing 

commander Kidd presenting 

Sergeant Gary Davidson with the 

Aircraft Recognition Trophy at the 

1983 annual awards evening. 

The same year saw Mark Boyle 

transfer to another wing and Ray 

Preston promoted to Flight 

Lieutenant to become the 

Squadron’s Commanding Officer. 

Pilot Officer Swales and Cadet Nellis 

attended overseas camp in Gibraltar. 

( See picture on next page) 

1984 appeared but with no change in 

the pace of events. The Squadron 

entered a team in the Galtres Run, a 

half marathon, with Pilot Officer 

Swales and the newly arrived Civilian 

Instructor Steve Wiggins both taking 

part along with Cadet Flight Sergeant 

Richard Flanagan, Cadet Sergeant 

Gary Davidson, Corporal Richardson 

and Cadet Nellis. 

34

Some of the senior cadets also took 

up membership of the Royal Air 

Force Gliding and Soaring 

Association and went gliding at RAF 

Dishforth in their own time and at 

their own expense. The members of 

the RAFGSA were very supportive 

with good gliding instruction and 

some excellent flights. 

This was the year in which the 

Squadron was placed first in the “B” 

Class of the Wing Drill Competition at 

RAF Linton on Ouse. 

In July, five overseas cadets visited 

the squadron. The cadets who were 

visiting York as part of the 

International Air Cadet Exchange 

Scheme had been accommodated at 

the homes of some of the squadron’s 

cadets. They were David Sullivan, 

Chris Gerlach and John Hassard 

from the United States of America, 

Marc Smits from the Netherlands 

and Luke Van Der Avert from 

Belgium. At a buffet lunch that 

evening they were presented with 

the new Squadron plaques and 

Cadet John Reavill was presented 

with his Silver Duke of Edinburgh 

Award. 

During the same month the squadron 

was responsible for providing a 

recruiting stand, complete with 

glider, at the Easingwold School 

Centenary celebrations. 

Camp that year was at RAF 

Shawbury. The picture following 

shows those who attended including 

Flight Lieutenant Ray Preston and 

Flying Officer Alan Swales. The girls 

35

shown on the left were from Thirsk as 

at this time no girls were on the 

books at Easingwold Squadron. 

Among the cadets shown are Cadet 

Flight Sergeant Davidson, Cadets 

Bryant, Kingham, Rae and Preston. 

Cadet of the Year in 1984 was Neil 

Kingham. Other awards were 

presented as follows: The Alec 

Hutchinson Award for outstanding 

service to the Squadron went to 

Cadet Warrant Officer Paul Fewster, 

the Aircraft Recognition Trophy to 

Cadet Sergeant Gary Davidson, the 

shooting award to Cadet Kevin Rae 

and the Achievement in the Air 

Award to Cadet John Reavill. 

A newcomer to the staff was Adult 

Warrant Officer Bob MacDougal who 

had transferred in from the Scottish 

Wing. At that time the Civilian 

Committee consisted of Ernest 

Broad as Chairman, Gerry Flanagan 

as Deputy, David Ireland as 

Secretary, Dorothy Sewart as 

Treasurer and Eric Reavill as Deputy. 

In 1985, prizes were awarded at an 

open evening. The Air Gunners 

Trophy went to Cadet White whilst 

other awards went to Cadet Flight 

Sergeant Davidson, and Cadets 

Kingham, Bryant, Wiggins and 

Atkinson. 

Flight Sergeant Davidson went on to 

join the Royal Air Force and served 

as a Hercules pilot. Gary had 

become the first cadet to earn his 

Gold Duke of Edinburgh Award and 

this was coupled with the award of a 

flying scholarship, again the first 

cadet to do so. Cadet Gary Mennell 

who joined the squadron only a few 

36

The picture above shows Flight Lieutenant Ray Preston making a presentation to Cadet Flight 

Sergeant Davidson. In the foreground is Flying Officer Alan Swales and the third uniformed person 

is AWO Bob MacDougal. 

months later was to be the only other 

cadet to achieve both awards in the 

history of the squadron until Sgt Greg 

Love made it three in 2004 with an 

Air League Scholarship. Gary 

Mennell also went on to join the 

Royal Air Force as an Officer. 

On reaching the upper age limit for 

cadets, Paul Fewster had become a 

Civilian Instructor pending his 

appointment as an Adult Warrant 

Officer and Brian Mennell also joined 

the squadron as a Civilian Instructor. 

Richard Flanagan had been 

appointed Cadet Warrant Officer. 

Annual Camp that year was at RAF 

Macrihanish, in the wilds of Scotland. 

Those who attended are shown in 

the picture at the top of the next page. 

The camp activity was split into two 

locations – one for adventurous 

activities, the other on the station 

itself with the cadets spending three 

days at each. One of the highlights of 

the week for those on the station 

part, was the arrival one day of three 

special forces RAF Hercules aircraft 

the crews of which offered the cadets 

exciting low level flights around 

Scotland, which all took up. To rub 

37

salt into the wound – after take off, 

their first task was to fly over the 

cadets on the adventurous site. 

During this year, the Detached Flight 

element at Thirsk was transferred to 

the Northallerton Squadron, with no 

further direct contact with 

Easingwold. By 1992 it had 

disbanded altogether. 

1985 also saw the squadron enter 

the Easingwold bed race. The 

squadron’s bed was decorated as an 

aircraft and was “piloted” by Rachel 

Preston (the daughter of the 

Commanding 

Officer) dressed in 

appropriate clothing. 

The squadron won 

first prize which was 

an excellent result. 

The bed was further 

enhanced with 

clouds of smoke 

coming out of the 

exhaust on passing 

the finishing point 

with the clever use of 

a plumbers smoke 

capsule. 

38

1986 saw Wing Commander Kidd 

again making presentations, this 

time to adults. Paul Fewster received 

his certificate of appointment as a 

Warrant Officer (pictured on previous 

page top) and Brian Mennell on 

appointment as a Civilian Instructor 

(pictured on previous page bottom). 

Brian was commissioned in October 

1986 to Pilot Officer and shortly 

afterwards became the Squadron 

Adjutant for many years before he 

became the squadron commander 

and later a Wing Staff Officer. 

The main presentation that evening 

however, was to appoint Ernest 

Broad as the first President of the 

Squadron in recognition of all the 

services he had rendered the 

Squadron, as a local Councillor, as 

Mayor of Easingwold and as 

Chairman of the Civilian Committee. 

He was presented with a framed 

certificate of appointment. Mr Broad 

thanked the squadron warmly for the 

certificate and said that it would have 

pride of place on his study wall 

together with the mementos of his 

service with the Royal Air Force. 

1986 was also a major fund raising 

year. With the squadron now on its 

second mini-bus and with its state of 

repair proving costly, the decision 

was made that if the squadron was 

ever to own a decent and reliable 

vehicle a major sum of money had to 

be raised. Brian Mennell came up 

with the idea of the cadets pulling the 

Above - Wing Commander Kidd presents Ernest Broad with his certificate as President. 

40

old vehicle the twelve miles it 

travelled each parade night from 

Haxby to Easingwold and obtaining 

sponsorship and publicity. 

So began a series of van pulls over 

the next few years. Mrs Joyce Carr, 

friend of the squadron and owner of 

the Cottage Inn, Haxby, waved this 

first one off from her car park on 

Saturday 8th March 1986 at 10 am. 

The squadron’s cadets then 

commenced the slow pull towards 

Easingwold. The 12 mile journey 

included the villages of Sutton and 

Stillington. On arrival at Easingwold, 

some 4 hours later the lads were met 

in by Squadron Leader Broad, the 

Town’s Mayor and Squadron 

President. Thanks to Dave Smith, 

the owner of the Fish and Chip shop 

in Easingwold, who opened up 

specially, every cadet was able to 

feast on fish and chips. This effort 

raised a much needed one thousand 

pounds. 

Camp in 1986 was at RAF Leuchars 

in Scotland with several cadets 

attending along with Flying Officer 

Swales and Mr Mennell. 

By the end of the year Warrant 

Officer MacDougal had left the 

squadron due to an employment 

transfer. 

Pictured below are the prize winners 

for 1986 along with members of the 

Air Gunners Association who have 

always been very supportive of the 

squadron. 

On Sunday 23rd November 1986, 

several cadets provided a guard of 

honour at RAF Linton on Ouse on the 

occasion of the retirement of Group 

41

Captain Smith, the Regional 

Commandant. A total of 120 guests 

attended the lunchtime reception to 

bid him farewell. The Easingwold 

cadets were chosen as Group 

Captain Smith lived in Easingwold. 

1987 was to see three changes 

which were to affect the Squadron. 

The first was Flight Lieutenant 

Preston transferring to 110 (City of 

York) Squadron and Flight 

Lieutenant Alan Swales taking over 

as the Commanding Officer. The 

second, in August was the arrival as 

a Civilian Instructor of Gordon 

McElroy. It was the third which was 

to be the most dramatic – the arrival 

of girls. 

Girls had been phased into the 

Corps gradually and many 

squadrons had already succeeded in 

accommodating them. Easingwold 

was a little slower than most in 

parting itself from the traditional all 

male Air Training Corps. 

However once they arrived a long 

tradition of having some excellent girl 

cadets started and their arrival 

undoubtedly enhanced the Corps 

and the Easingwold Squadron. The 

first girl to join was Katrina 

Summerscales on 29th September 

1987 with Nicki Cann and Yvonne 

Langford following shortly after. All 

three were enrolled on 15th March 

1988. 

Camp in 1987 was at RAF Shawbury 

and the picture below shows the 

eight cadets who attended as well as 

members of staff. Flight Lieutenant 

Swales is seated second from the left 

and Pilot Officer Mennell seated 

second from the right. 

42

Tim Richardson had been appointed 

Cadet Warrant Officer after Richard 

Flanagan came of age and left. Tim 

was also awarded his Gold Duke of 

Edinburgh Award that year. 

Cadet Corporal Gary Mennell who 

had achieved Silver Duke of 

Edinburgh Award capped his year by 

going solo in a glider on his sixteenth 

birthday – 21st September – the first 

legal day he could do so. Gary had 

been a member of the Royal Air 

Force Gliding and Soaring 

Association at RAF Dishforth for the 

previous two years and had 

amassed some 40 hours flying in 

over 250 flights. He was also 

awarded the best all round cadet 

trophy in 1987. 

In February 1988 the Squadron 

paraded, with others through York to 

mark the 47th Anniversary of the 

formation of the Air Training Corps. 

Known as ATC Sunday the parade is 

always on the nearest Sunday to 5th 

February. In the picture below the 

squadron parades outside All Saints 

Church, Pavement, York after the 

ATC Sunday service. In the 

foreground several of the more 

senior cadets: Cadet Warrant Officer 

Richardson and Cadets Stainthorpe, 

Dearlove, Mennell. Sewart, Perkins, 

Richardson and Lee. The Lord 

Mayor of York and the Civic Party 

always attended and inspected the 

cadets. 

With the arrival of Gordon McElroy 

who on 11th August 1988 was 

appointed Adult Warrant Officer on 

the Squadron, came an increase in 

flying for the cadets. He worked at 

RAF Topcliffe, and became friendly 

with the Army Air Corps based there 

which facilitated cadets flying in the 

Army Gazelle helicopters on many 

occasions. Some cadets also had 

the opportunity to fly in the Royal Air 

Force Bulldogs also stationed at 

Topcliffe. 

43

Camp during 1988 was at Royal Air 

Force Newton which was at that time 

also the home of Headquarters Air 

Cadets. This was the first camp 

attended by our girl cadets. The 

picture above shows those who 

attended with the girls Katrina 

Summerscales (Left) and Nikki Cann 

(Right) 

1988 also saw a visit to the Newark 

Air Museum and various outdoor 

activities. Abseiling proved very 

popular under the expert guidance of 

Steve Wiggins. The squadron with 

the help of the Beckwith Trust, an 

Easingwold based charity, was able 

to purchase all the necessary ropes, 

hats and other items required to 

carry out this sport safely. 

Another member of staff who had 

recently joined as a Civilian 

Instructor and was keen on outdoor 

activities was Mrs Sue Simpson. 

The picture below shows Cadets 

and staff on the Dales Walk in 1988. 

44

For several years Easingwold cadets 

had attended and helped out at the 

annual open day at RAF Linton on 

Ouse, known as the November 

Fayre. This year the squadron also 

entered the man-powered marathon 

competition between units on the 

station and the air cadets. With a little 

help from the engineers at RAF 

Linton on Ouse a machine was built 

which successfully completed the 

marathon. The picture shows Cadet 

Sergeant Mennell (right) taking his 

turn on the high tech piece of 

equipment. The other machine 

shown was the eventual winner. 

A very special honour that year was 

bestowed on Squadron Leader 

Ernest Broad, the Squadron 

President. He was selected by the 

Royal Air Force Association to turn 

the page of the Book of 

Remembrance at the Service in York 

Minster on 18th September 1988 to 

commemorate the 48th anniversary 

of the Battle of Britain. The book 

contains some 18,000 names of 

members of the Royal Air Forces of 

the Commonwealth and their allies 

who, operating from bases in North 

Yorkshire, Durham and 

Northumberland did not return from 

operations during the Second World 

War. During the war, Ernest was one 

of the many young pilots who 

defended our country flying Spitfires 

and Hurricanes completing five tours 

of operation, including one in Malta, 

in which he was shot down. He was 

awarded the DFC for his gallant 

service there. 

1989 was to be no less busy than the 

previous year – Cadet Sergeant 

Mennell was to win a Flying 

Scholarship which he completed at 

Wickenby in Lincolnshire and to 

complete his Gold Duke of 

Edinburgh Award, making him only 

the second person in the squadron to 

do both. 

Several cadets had proved their 

expertise at aircraft recognition, 

having four times won the Wing 

Competition as a team. This year 

was to be even better. Under the 

guidance of Gordon McElroy they 

trained to absolute perfection and 

this was to be the first year that they 

were to win both Wing and Regional 

Competitions culminating in the 

Corps competition at the RAF 

Museum at Hendon played out by 

the best seven air cadet teams in the 

country. The team was Cadet 

Sergeants Paul Sewart and Gary 

Mennell and Corporal Chris Perkins. 

This was to be the first of three such 

visits over the next three years. 

Also 1989 was the first time the Duke 

of Edinburgh Award Winners from 

the squadron had been invited to 

North Yorkshire County Hall in 

45

Northallerton for a civic presentation. 

The picture above shows Cadets 

Perkins, Mennell, Sewart, Wiggins, 

Davidson and Richardson. 

Another major asset to the squadron 

at this time was Pilot Officer Simon 

Collins, a trainee pilot from RAF 

Linton on Ouse. In his spare time he 

came down on parade nights and 

having taught the cadets, 

camouflage techniques and escape 

and evasion skills, he arranged 

several exciting exercises including 

an all night exercise at RAF 

Dishforth. 

The squadron attended two camps in 

1989, one at RAF Shawbury and the 

other at RAF Cosford. Cadet Lee, 

Corporal Perkins, Sergeant Sewart 

and Cadet Cann are shown in the 

following picture on the ranges at 

Shawbury. 

A further entry by the squadron in the 

Easingwold Bed Race, was sadly not 

as successful as the previous entry. 

The bed and all the “troops” were 

heavily camouflaged, so it is possible 

that the judges didn’t see it – or at 

least that's our excuse. 

46

Simon Collins (4th in from left) with the cadets on one of his exercises 

Every year the squadron held a 

Dining In Night, in other words a 

formal military dinner, and these had 

taken various forms over the years. 

They were held in the squadron 

headquarters during the early years 

but by the late 1980s we were able to 

use the facilities at the Galtres 

Centre in Easingwold. It had always 

been tradition that the cadets wear 

their best bib and tucker and that the 

Officers and staff prepare and serve 

the cadets their meal. The tradition is 

still carried on to date. 

The year, and indeed the decade, 

ended with probably the best Dining 

in Night so far, when Squadron 

Leader Martin Withers DFC, a flying 

instructor stationed at RAF Linton on 

Ouse at the time, was invited as 

Guest of Honour. 

Squadron Leader Withers had been 

the pilot of the first Vulcan aircraft to 

bomb the Falkland Islands in the 

early hours of 1st May 1982 in what 

became known as the Black Buck 

missions. He described in great 

detail to a riveted audience how he 

was back up aircraft of two, when the 

lead aircraft had a malfunction and 

he and his crew suddenly became 

the prime aircraft. 

The Vulcan with a usual range of 

1700 miles had to travel 3900 miles 

from Ascension Island to bomb a 

single runway on a remote island 

heavily guarded by troops and 

weaponry in a war situation. It had to 

be supported by no less than 11 

Victor tankers, not only to get it to the 

target using in flight refuelling, but to 

refuel each other to progress 

47

onwards and then get back safely. 

He was able to tell them many 

interesting facets of the operation 

and received a huge round of 

applause at the end. A truly historic 

moment for the squadron. 

In 2009 Martin Withers was 

appointed the Chief Pilot of the 

Vulcan to the Skies Charity and was 

back flying the only airworthy Vulcan. 

Last, but by no means least, the 

changes in the civilian committee 

over the decade were many. In 

respect of chairmen, in 1986 Ernest 

Broad gave way to Gerry Flanagan 

and then to Phil Burridge but Ernest 

stayed on the committee. Phil was a 

war time Air Gunner and had been a 

Prisoner of War. He had also been 

the Station Warrant Officer at RAF 

Linton on Ouse. In 1987 the chair 

was taken by Barrie Dearlove who 

was to take us into the next decade. 

Above - a couple of shots of the iconic Vulcan 

Bomber. This is XH 558 on one of its first flights 

after a £6 million refurbishment by Vulcan to the 

Skies. It first returned to flying on 18th October 

2007 and will be flown by Martin Withers. 

48

Chapter 6 – The nineties 

Roaring on into a new millennium 

Two unusual and interesting 

activities occurred in 1990. The first 

was the squadron’s involvement in 

“Operation Crash-point 90” which 

was a major incident exercise 

organised by the local authority and 

the emergency services. Our cadets, 

acting as casualties, were made up 

with some very realistic looking 

injuries. 

Also from 18th to 20th May, the 

squadron was invited to join the 

Queens Own Yeomanry of the 

Territorial Army for a weekend 

exercise. During the weekend cadets 

learnt about the Army and were 

involved in exercises using light 

tanks. 

Success again in 1990 when the 

squadron team won both the Wing 

and Regional aircraft recognition 

competitions. The picture below 

shows from left to right Cadet 

Corporal Towse, Cadet Flight 

Sergeant Sewart, Cadet Sergeant 

Mennell and Cadet corporal Wade 

with the trophies. On the left, the 

Wing trophy and on the right the 

Regional Trophy. Sadly the team 

was about to break up – Corporal 

Perkins, a founder member, had just 

left to go to university and Sergeant 

Mennell was about to join the Royal 

Air Force. 

Further excellent trips to the Army Air 

Corps at Topcliffe included flights in 

the Lynx helicopters. Annual camp 

was held at RAF Leuchars, and 

those attending are shown on the 

picture at the top of the following 

page. 

49

Winners of the annual awards in May 

1990 were Corporal Towse, Cadet 

Wilson, Corporal Stainthorpe, 

Corporal Wade, Sergeant Mennell 

and Corporal Perkins. 

The year ended with a Dining in 

Night, again at the Galtres Centre. 

This time the Guest of Honour was 

Lieutenant Peter Shaw of the Royal 

Navy, a flying instructor at RAF 

Linton on Ouse. 

Also attending were four ex cadets 

all serving in the Royal Air Force. 

They were Officer Cadet Gary 

Mennell, AC Dearlove, AC 

Widdowson and LACW Langford. 

The carvery meal, followed by 

gateau and coffee with mints was 

enjoyed by all. 

1990 also saw the arrival of two 

cadets who, although joining at an 

older age than others normally 

joined, were to become key players 

in the coming years. Natalie Train 

joined aged 17 but was to progress 

rapidly to become the Squadron’s 

first female Cadet Warrant Officer, 

Adult Warrant Officer and then went 

on to be commissioned before she 

went to join the Royal Air Force and 

Mark Stubbs aged 16 on joining who 

later became a Cadet Warrant 

Officer and Adult Warrant Officer. 

1991 was to be a very busy year, not 

only for the Squadron but for the Air 

Training Corps, as this was its 50th 

birthday. The Central and East 

Yorkshire Wing were to celebrate 

this anniversary on Sunday 14th 

April 1991 by parading through the 

centre of York and attending a 

service at York Minster. The 

squadron’s staff and cadets all took 

part. The Guest of Honour was Air 

50

Commodore R. P. Skelley RAF who 

was the Air Officer Commanding the 

Air Training Corps. Also on parade 

was the Air Cadet Banner. 

Flight Sergeant Paul Sewart was 

appointed Cadet Warrant Officer in 

February. Paul, one of the few 

Easingwold dwellers at that time, 

continued his association with the 

Squadron throughout the decade 

becoming its Commanding Officer at 

the end. Several other cadets were 

to achieve officer status over the 

years but Paul was the first to 

achieve the distinction of becoming 

the Commanding Officer of 

Easingwold having previously been 

a cadet there. He was later followed 

by Natalie Train and Jon Mennell 

As well as annual camp at RAF 

Wyton, with those attending shown 

below, the squadron was very lucky 

to be invited along with a squadron 

from the West Riding Wing, to take 

part in a one off camp at Topcliffe. 

The camp was organised and run by 

the Army Air Corps and an excellent 

time was had by all. Cadet Chris 

Wilson of Easingwold was awarded 

“Best Cadet of the Camp.” The 

picture above shows Cadet Wilson 

receiving his award. 

The squadron won the Junior 

Athletics Trophy at the Wing Sports 

Competition beating the other twenty 

one squadrons. Several cadets went 

on to represent the Wing at the 

Regional Competition held at 

Cleckheaton. It was also the sixth 

successive year that the squadron 

won the Wing Aircraft Recognition 

Competition. This time, joining the 

51

team along with Cadet Warrant 

Officer Sewart, were Cadets Wilson 

and Allan. Once again they went on 

and won the Regional Competition to 

make yet another appearance at the 

Corps Final at the RAF Museum, 

Hendon. 

1992 saw Cadet Corporal Jonathan 

Mennell and Cadet Corporal Mark 

Stubbs both promoted to Sergeant 

and Natalie Train to Flight Sergeant. 

In February then promoted to 

Sergeant, Jonathan Mennell was to 

follow in his brothers footsteps by 

flying solo in a glider on his sixteenth 

birthday, again after training at the 

RAFGSA Club at RAF Dishforth. 

Awards for the year were as follows: 

Cadet of the Year was Cadet 

Gregan. Air Gunners Award went to 

Cadet Smith and Achievement in the 

Air Award to Cadet Flight Sergeant 

Train who had gained an Air Britain 

Flying Scholarship. The Shooting 

Trophy was awarded to Cadet Flight 

Sergeant Wade and the Aircraft 

Recognition Trophy, jointly to Cadet 

Corporals Wilson and Allan. The 

Alec Hutchinson Trophy which is 

awarded annually for “Outstanding 

Service to the Squadron” was 

presented to Squadron Leader 

Ernest Broad in appreciation of his 

many years of valuable assistance to 

the squadron. 

Camp that year was held at the 

Royal Air Force College Cranwell. 

The picture below taken outside the 

very impressive College Hall, shows 

from left to right, Cadet Sergeant 

Mennell, Cadet Reid, Cadet Smith, 

Cadet Gregan, Flight Lieutenant 

52

Swales, Cadet Flight Sergeant Train, 

Cadet Warrant Officer Sewart, Cadet 

Corporal Allan and Cadet Corporal 

Wilson. 

The Civilian Committee at this time 

was chaired by Claude Savage and 

the staff was enhanced by the arrival 

of Pilot Officer Debbie Wiggins on 

transfer from 110 (City of York) 

Squadron. 

Two cadets went on camp to 

Germany and one to Gibraltar and in 

December Natalie Train was 

appointed Cadet Warrant Officer, 

the first female on the squadron so 

appointed, but not the last. 

1993 was to open with the 

sad news of the death of 

our President, Squadron 

Leader Ernest Broad, but 

his contribution to the 

Squadron lives on and he 

is remembered in a new 

trophy awarded annually 

to the Cadet of the Year. 

At the awards evening in 

May the first recipient of 

the new award was Cadet 

Sergeant Mark Stubbs. 

Other awards were made 

as follows: Aircraft 

Recognition Cadet 

Rawson. Junior Cadet of 

the Year Cadet Mayes. 

Achievement in the Air 

Cadet Sergeant Mennell. 

Shooting Trophy Cadet 

Allan. Flight Lieutenant 

Swales was awarded the 

Alec Hutchinson Trophy for 

outstanding service. 

Neil Kingham, an ex cadet and now 

a Civilian Instructor with the 

squadron was an instructor with the 

Thirsk Karate Association. Neil was 

awarded his karate second Dan 

black belt that year – an even greater 

honour than the coveted black belt. 

However, the major event that year 

was another, but even more 

spectacular van pull. This time, the 

normal plan of pulling the old van to 

raise funds for a new one was 

thwarted. The state of the old one 

had become so desperate that a new 

53

one had to be purchased 

immediately, so having done so, the 

decision was made to pull the new 

one to raise the money to buy it. At 

10 am on 9th October 1993, once 

again, Joyce Carr waved them off 

from the Cottage Inn, Haxby and the 

twelve mile pull began. The same 

route to Easingwold was followed but 

this time the “pull” between 

Easingwold Golf Club and the Town 

centre was led by the Band of 110 

(City of York) Squadron. Almost 

£2,000 was raised, double the last 

effort and a job well done. 

Camp that year was held at RAF 

Leuchars. Around the same time 

Wing Commander Ray Kidd, now the 

Wing Chairman returned to squadron 

duties, albeit it temporarily, as the 

Squadron Chairman. 

1994 was an important milestone in 

the squadron’s history. It was the 

25th anniversary of the formation of 

the Squadron and celebrations were 

planned towards the end of the year. 

In the mean time life went on and at 

Easter the squadron attended camp 

at RAF Scampton. Under new 

international laws military members 

of the former Soviet Union were 

entitled to inspect bases in England 

to check compliance with arms 

holdings. Whilst at Scampton an 

Antonov AN 12 Cub aircraft from the 

Ukraine landed on such a mission. 

The captain kindly agreed to show all 

the cadets on camp around his 

aircraft and he and his crew posed 

with them for this truly remarkable 

camp photograph beside his aircraft. 

The crew are all wearing caps except 

54

the captain who is shown 5th in from 

the left. 

This particular year marked several 

other changes. Cadet Warrant 

Officer Sewart came of age and left 

the squadron and a new Civilian 

Committee formed with Joe Weston 

as Chairman, Dennis Tottie as 

Secretary, Margaret Tottie as 

Treasurer and Mrs Weston, Mrs 

Ingram and Mrs Rawson as 

members. 

Debbie Wiggins had left the 

squadron to return to York and Flight 

Lieutenant Alan Swales advised that 

he would be retiring from the Corps. 

Brian Mennell was promoted to Flight 

Lieutenant and took command of the 

squadron on 5th August 1994. Thus 

a new commanding officer and a new 

committee were set to take the 

squadron into its second twenty five 

years. 

Cadet Warrant Officer Train and 

Cadet Sergeant Mennell had both 

gained their Gold Duke of Edinburgh 

Awards and Mark Stubbs had been 

appointed Cadet Warrant Officer. 

Fund raising was at an all time high 

under the new regime. Glider flying 

nights, raffles, and on a couple of 

occasions “shoe shines” all raising 

good money. At this time, the new 

Secretary, Dennis Tottie, was prolific 

at writing to all kinds of people, 

companies and groups to help 

sponsor the squadron and fund the 

ever increasing costs of the mini-bus. 

Dennis once said “I’ll get the 

squadron a new minibus before I’m 

finished” and many smiled at his 

optimism. Although at first he met 

many rejections, Dennis never gave 

up and the squadron owes a great 

debt to him for his efforts, which 

before the century was to end, saw 

the arrival of a brand new vehicle. 

Summer camp was held at RAF 

Boulmer, near Alnwick but the major 

event of the year was to be the 

celebration of the 25th Anniversary 

of the Squadron’s formation. Held on 

Sunday 25th September, the 

squadron was joined by cadets from 

Northallerton, Harrogate and 

Knaresborough and by the Band of 

110 (City of York) Squadron. 

Permission was given to parade the 

Air Cadet Banner, to all intents and 

purpose the Queens Colour to the Air 

Training Corps. The parade marched 

from the Market Place in Easingwold 

to the Parish Church led by the 

outgoing Commanding Officer Alan 

Swales. The Guests of Honour were 

55

Group Captain Bill Gambold, the 

Regional Commandant and the 

Town Mayor, Councillor Geoff Ellis. 

Invitations had been sent to 

numerous ex staff and cadets – 

many of whom attended. 

The service was conducted by the 

Reverend Tony Hart the Vicar of 

Easingwold and Squadron Padre. 

Easingwold Town Band played at the 

service. A memorable moment was 

the parading of the Air Cadet Banner 

down the aisle of the packed church 

in slow time. The Banner was carried 

by Flight Sergeant Jon Mennell and 

escorted by Corporals Lee Thurston 

and Sarah Chapman. Cadet Warrant 

Officer Natalie Train supervised the 

party. 

Left the Colour Party. Below 110 

(City of York) Squadron Band. 

56

Above, Group Captain Bill Gambold, Regional Commandant of North Region talks to Cadet Emma 

Hudson whilst inspecting the cadets. Below, Councillor Ellis presents the Easingwold Town Council 

Award to Flight Lieutenant Brian Mennell. 

57

Following the service the parade 

marched back into the Market Place 

led by Flight Lieutenant Mennell, 

where Group Captain Gambold, after 

inspecting the cadets, presented 

Flight Lieutenant Swales with his 

Cadet Forces Medal. 

The Town Mayor, Councillor Ellis, 

presented a plaque to Flight 

Lieutenant Mennell commemorating 

the long association the Squadron 

had with the Town. 

At a reception in the 

Galtres Centre laid on by 

the Civilian Committee, the 

first Commanding Officer 

Wing Commander Ray 

Kidd and the current 

Commanding Officer Flight 

Lieutenant Brian Mennell 

cut the “birthday” cake. A 

memorable day in which 

the squadron and all its 

members shone. 

Members of the Civilian Committee 

who worked hard at the anniversary 

event are shown in the top picture. 

Left to right Joe Weston (Chairman) 

Mrs Weston Mrs Rawson Mrs M. 

Tottie (Treasurer) Mrs Harris, Mr 

Dennis Tottie (Secretary) Mrs P. 

Tottie and Paul Sewart. 

Cadets and staff from the Squadron 

who took part in the 25th Anniversary 

Parade are shown opposite outside 

58

Members of the 1994 Drill Team for the Wing Competition 

the Squadron’s Headquarters in 

Croft Close, Easingwold. 

Early in 1995 Gordon McElroy was 

commissioned and became a Pilot 

Officer, Natalie Train having reached 

the 22 year age limit for Cadet 

Warrant Officer was appointed an 

Adult Warrant Officer and Jon 

Mennell was appointed Cadet 

Warrant Officer. Simon Wade and 

Nicki Cann, both ex cadets re-joined 

as Civilian Instructors. Also making a 

return was Paul Sewart who was 

appointed an Adult Warrant Officer in 

1995. 

Easter camp was at RAF Marham 

and cadets from Easingwold joined 

cadets from other squadrons in the 

Wing there. At the camp several of 

the top awards went to Easingwold 

Cadets. Pictured opposite top is 

Cadet Corporal Paul Ather receiving 

the Best Cadet Award and below him 

59

Cadet Andrew Harris the Best 

Turned Out Cadet Award. 

Summer camp was held at RAF 

Halton with Easingwold's two Cadet 

Warrant Officers being the senior 

cadets attending. In the picture 

below CWO Jon Mennell is awarded 

a tankard by Flight Lieutenant Gray, 

the Camp Commandant, whilst CWO 

Easter Camp at RAF Marham 

Mark Stubbs waits in the wings for 

his. Both worked very hard to ensure 

a good camp in the hottest of 

weather, so hot, that even drill was 

curtailed. 

That year the squadron was placed 

5th in the overall performance ratings 

out of the 22 squadrons in the 

Central and East Yorkshire Wing. 

At the annual awards 

evening the Air Gunners 

Award for the best 

newcomer went jointly 

to Emma Hudson and 

Nicola Thurston and the 

Cadet of the Year 

Award was presented to 

Cadet Andrew Harris. 

The Alec Hutchinson 

Award for outstanding 

service to the squadron 

went to the Secretary, 

60

Dennis Tottie. Other awards were, 

Cadet Rawson (Aircraft recognition), 

Cadet Sergeant Croft (Shooting) and 

Cadet Weston (Cadet of the Quarter). 

L to R Ellis, Mennell and Croft 

The year ended with another Dining 

in Night but this time the venue was 

Wigginton Sports Club where 

Margaret Tottie, Sue Simpson and 

Nicki Cann prepared an excellent 

meal which was followed by a home 

produced disco run by Jon Mennell, 

Adam Croft and Andrew Ellis 

1996 saw Easter Camp at RAF 

Manston and the cadets were to be 

part of a slice of air cadet history. 

RAF Manston was the home of 

Number 1 Air Experience Flight and 

the week’s camp coincided with their 

final week before being disbanded 

and the last week of flying Chipmunk 

aircraft by the Air Experience Flights 

within the Royal Air Force. Plenty of 

flying was to be had before the 

aircraft – the workhorses of flying 

experience to many an air cadet over 

the previous 40 years – were put up 

for sale to the general public. 

Several went to America but some 

can still be seen on the air show 

circuits or in the hands of private 

pilots. The Bulldog aircraft took over 

for the next few years but was 

eventually replaced by the new Grob 

Tutor by 2000 / 2001. Pictured below 

are members of the camp with the 

aircraft. on the very last day of 

operation. 

A major problem in 1996 was a 

change in legislation regarding the 

carriage of young persons in minibuses, 

following a tragedy involving 

young scouts, not too many miles 

away from us. New rules came out 

about vehicles being fitted with 

forward facing seats and seat belts. 

Our ex police vehicle, had bench 

seats along each side and no seat 

belts, therefore although the vehicle 

was good mechanically it had to be 

changed. 

61

Dennis Tottie applied to the National 

Lottery for a grant towards a new one 

but sadly the squadron was not to be 

part of the 12.7 million pound 

handouts that year. 

On advising the local paper the 

picture above was published under 

the heading “Air cadets hope that 

next time it’s them.” It is unusual to 

see miserable faces on the squadron 

but this posed picture was the start of 

the events that led to a new vehicle. 

Shown above from left to right are 

Cadet Sergeant Adam Croft, Cadet 

Corporal Paul Ather, Cadet Warrant 

Officer Jon Mennell, Cadet Corporal 

Andrew Ellis and Cadet Mark Flewitt. 

Another vehicle was now 

desperately needed, indeed the 

number of cadets to be transported 

from Haxby to Easingwold was 

increasing all the time. An almost 

immediate donation of £500 was 

received from the York Children's 

Trust following this article but with a 

long way to go another van pull to 

raise funds had to be in the offing. 

Another awards evening saw Cadet 

Emily Toase win the Air Gunners 

Trophy for best newcomer that year 

with Cadet Sergeant Adam Croft the 

first recipient of the new Royal Air 

Force Association Shield for the best 

NCO of the year. Cadet of the year 

was Cadet Simon Ingram and the 

Alec Hutchinson Trophy for 

outstanding service to the squadron 

was presented to Mark Stubbs who 

had become a Civilian Instructor 

having reached the age of 22 and 

62

compulsory retirement as a cadet. 

Also winning awards were Emma 

Hudson (Shooting), Adam Russell 

(Most improved cadet), Alec Wilson 

(Achievement in the air), Tom Davitt 

(C.O’s Award), Scott Richmond 

(Cadet of the Quarter) and Andrew 

Harris (Aircraft Recognition). 

Warrant Officer Natalie Train was 

commissioned and became Pilot 

Officer Train. Other staff changes 

occurred when Pilot Officer McElroy 

was transferred in July to become 

the Commanding Officer of the 

Ryedale Squadron in Malton and 

Natalie Train took a year off to tour 

Australia. 

With a vehicle still a major priority, 

fund raising for it included £88 raised 

by four cadets completing a 

parachute jump and £712 from a 

locally held race night. A further 

£3000 was raised by the third van 

pull which took place on 27th 

October 1996. Flight Lieutenant 

Mennell had organised all three van 

pulls, but for various reasons had not 

walked the full distance. This year he 

intended to do so, and he did, much 

to his delight. Once again the cadets 

set off from the Cottage Inn to haul 

the old van to Easingwold. This time 

they were waved off by York City 

Footballer Steve Tutill. The Band of 

110 (City of York) Squadron once 

again escorted them from 

Easingwold Golf Club into the Town 

Centre. The picture below courtesy 

of York and County Press, shows 

the balloon bedecked bus being 

waved off by Steve Tutill. 

With the £3000 raised by the van 

pull, the mini-bus fund was swelling 

63

to over £5000, but another vehicle 

had to be found urgently. Queen 

Ethelburgh’s College offered one of 

their redundant vehicles, in fact an 

old Leeds City Transport Hoppa-bus 

in reasonable order and with almost 

a years MOT for £800. This vehicle 

had been used to transport young 

people so it came complete with 

good forward facing seating and 

seat belts and proved too good an 

offer to refuse. 

So the squadron became the proud 

owner of yet another mini-bus, in 

fact the owner of two buses, as no 

immediate buyer was available for 

the old one. Sights were however 

surely set on raising funds to buy a 

new one in the not too distant future. 

Another mini-bus was purchased at 

the end of the year to replace both 

and for a short while the squadron 

had three. Very soon the original bus 

went, but as the squadron had 

grown and the number of cadets 

requiring transport had increased to 

beyond the seating of one bus, the 

decision to keep two was made. This 

was a serious drain on resources but 

equally an indication of how 

successful the squadron was. 

1997 arrived and the squadron 

continued in fine form. Two 

members of staff left, Sue Simpson 

and Nicky Cann but Mark Stubbs 

was appointed Adult Warrant Officer 

and Brian Bain, already an Adult 

Warrant Officer arrived from a 

southern wing. Phil Pulleyn also 

joined the staff as a Civilian 

Instructor followed a few months 

later by his wife Judy. 

Easter Camp was at RAF Locking 

and in summer RAF Valley by which 

time Pilot Officer Train had reappeared 

on strength. 

As can be seen in the picture on the 

following page the cadets had an 

excellent camp, resulting in this fun 

picture with their caps hurtling into 

the air. 

Cadet of the Year in 1997 was 

Sergeant Christopher Rawson with 

the Air Gunners Trophy awarded to 

Cadet Jonathan Martlew, the RAFA 

Shield to Corporal David Dalton and 

the Most Improved Cadet award to 

Cadet Louise Clark. Other awards 

went to Cadet Scott Richmond 

(Achievement in the Air), Cadet 

Christopher Gallier (C.O.s Award) 

and Cadet Jill Rawson (Cadet of the 

Quarter). The Alec Hutchinson 

Trophy was presented to the 

Chairman Joe Weston who had 

been instrumental in the success of 

the squadron and the civilian 

committee. 1997 was also the year 

that the squadron was placed 

second in the Wing efficiency 

inspections, narrowly beaten by 110 

(City of York) Squadron, but the first 

time such a high rating had been 

achieved. 

Under the guidance of Warrant 

Officer Brian Bain a serious interest 

in shooting was beginning to be 

aroused and over the next few years 

his coaching was to achieve several 

awards in that sport. 

64

A field craft camp was held at Dalby 

Forest. In the small picture above the 

cadets can be seen preparing their 

evening meal (Cadet Tom Davitt in 

the foreground) 

1998 was to see even more staff and 

civilian changes. Brian Mennell was 

appointed to the Wing Staff on 13th 

February 1998 and he was replaced 

as Commanding Officer by Flight 

Lieutenant David Walker who was 

transferred from the Harrogate 

Squadron. The following week Jon 

Mennell became of age and finished 

as Cadet Warrant Officer. Mark 

Rudd who was the Wing Treasurer 

and also a member of the squadron 

committee for the previous twelve 

months left on moving work to 

another part of the country. Paul 

Sewart was commissioned as Pilot 

Officer and Wing Commander Ray 

Kidd was appointed the Squadron’s 

President. 

These changes continued later in 

the year when Joe Weston stood 

down as Chairman and was 

65

eplaced by Dennis Tottie. Flight 

Lieutenant Walker was transferred 

back to Harrogate on 3rd August 98 

and Pilot Officer Natalie Train took 

over the temporary command of the 

Squadron for a few weeks until she 

too left the Corps to take up work in 

the London area before being 

commissioned into the Royal Air 

Force. 

Paul Sewart then took command 

temporarily until he was appointed 

Commanding Officer in April 1999 

and promoted to Flight Lieutenant. 

November 1998 also saw two new 

Civilian Committee Members Rob 

and Hazel Love who were the 

parents of the newly joined Cadet 

Greg Love. 

Awards during 1998 went to Cadet 

Scott Richmond (Air Gunners 

Award), Cadet Thomas Wiseman 


Flight Sergeant Andrew Ellis (Cadet 

of the Year), Cadet Helen Pulleyn 

(Most Improved Cadet) and Cadet 

Croft (C.O.s Award). 

The Queen Ethelburgh’s mini-bus 

gave up the ghost when its engine 

seized and it was scrapped. Just 

one mini-bus again! However this 

year was to be the start of major 

donations towards a new squadron 

vehicle and on 20th March a cheque 

for £3000 was handed over by Mr 

Hall of Lloyds TSB Foundation 

following extensive appeals by 

Chairman Dennis Tottie. The 

presentation is shown in the picture 

above with left to right Joe Weston, 

Mr Hall, Dennis Tottie. 

1998 also saw cadets attend an 

adventure training camp at Dalby 

Forest and a visit to Slingsby 

Aviation. Pilot Officer Train and 

Cadet Richmond attended camp at 

Cyprus whilst others attended camp 

at Lossiemouth and Boulmer . 

66

Above - Cadets at the trip to Slingsby Aviation and below - Gibraltar Camp attended by Pilot Officer 

Natalie Train and Cadet Richmond. 

67

The squadron took part in a major 

event at the Yorkshire Air 

Spectacular at Elvington over the 

August Bank Holiday Weekend. It 

was held in connection with the 50th 

Anniversary of the formation of the 

Central and East Yorkshire Wing and 

with other celebrations such as a 

marathon ten pin bowling day, 

money was raised for the charities, 

30th Anniversary Parade at Easingwold in 1999 

Child line and the Royal Air Force 

Association. 

Pictured above is Flight Lieutenant 

Dave Walker who took on the 

mammoth task of catering at the 

Wing 50th Anniversary Camp at 

Elvington. 

The Regional Commandant, Group 

Captain Gambold visited the 

Squadron on 19th June and as well 

as carrying out his inspection, 

presented achievement awards to 

several cadets. Jon Mennell returned 

to the squadron as a Civilian 

Instructor. 

The year ended with shooting 

success when Cadet Corporal Helen 

Pulleyn and Cadet Thomas Davitt 

won spoons in the Royal Air Force 

Small Arms Association Cadet 

68

Six Commanding Officers shown together at the 30th Anniversary. L to R Paul Sewart, Brian 

Mennell, Alan Swales, Ernest Astley, Ray Kidd and Dick Harrison. 

Spoon Shoot. Their wins for the 

November and December spoons 

were immediately followed by 

Corporal Chris Gallier who won the 

January 1999 spoon. The first major 

successes under Brian Bain’s 

guidance. 

1999, the final year of this decade, 

was also the 30th Anniversary of the 

formation of the Squadron. A parade 

on 3rd October 1999, was followed 

by a service at Easingwold Parish 

Church conducted by the padre 

Reverend Tony Hart. Wing 

Commander Kidd was the inspecting 

Officer. The after the service a 

reception was held in the Parish Hall, 

which was very fitting, as that was 

the original meeting place for the 

Squadron way back in the 

beginnings. 

Liz Skingle, another cadet’s parent 

joined the Committee. With Rob 

Love now helping Dennis Tottie two 

major awards of sponsorship were 

achieved. The first a donation of 

£5000 from the National Lottery 

allowed the purchase of an LCD 

Projector. The second and most 

significant was a donation of £12,200 

from the Nationwide Foundation. 

This amount added to monies 

already raised and allowed the 

squadron to come up with the 

£18,772 required for an LDV 

69

seventeen seat fully equipped brand 

new vehicle. The one always 

promised by Dennis Tottie. This was 

a spectacular achievement. 

Two cadets shone at swimming 

during the year. Cadets Ben and 

Aimie Petts (pictured above) won 

several gold medals at the Wing 

Swimming Competition and went on 

to win at Region and then at the 

Corps championships at RAF 

Cranwell. They were selected to 

represent the ATC in the Cadet 

Inter-service Championships. 

The year also included a sponsored 

walk, the Easingwold Street Fayre, 

with some of the cadets who 

attended shown in the top picture, 

the November Fayre at RAF Linton 

on Ouse in the lower picture and an 

initial training weekend. 

Easter camp was at RAF 

Lossiemouth and those who 

attended are shown in the top 

picture opposite. The bottom picture 

on the following page shows 

Summer camp attendees at RAF 

Waddington. 

Awards for the year went to Cadet 

Wiseman (Air Gunners Trophy), 

Cadet Sergeant Pulleyn (NCO 

70

Shield), Cadet Corporal Davitt 


Nelson (Cadet of the Year), Most 

Improved Cadet was Cadet Love 

Cadet Calvert (C.O.s Award) and 

Cadet Skingle ( Cadet of the Quarter) 

The year, the decade and the 

millennium all came to a close. The 

Squadron entered the new 

millennium at least as strong, if not 

stronger than ever. 

71

Chapter 7 – A new millennium 

This then, is the first year of a new 

decade and a new millennium. The 

decade started with the inevitable 

changes to staff and civilian 

committee. Jonathan Mennell was 

commissioned to Pilot Officer and 

Brian Mennell, having retired from 

uniform service in 1999, took over 

from Dennis Tottie as Chairman. 

Brian was also appointed as Wing 

Corporate Communications Officer 

shortly after and was to be 

responsible for all press and public 

relations in the Central and East 

Yorkshire Wing. 

Paul Sewart transferred to another 

Wing and became Commanding 

Officer of 2000 (Eckington) 

Squadron. Flight Lieutenant Brian 

Woodburn transferred from 

Northallerton to become the 

Commanding Officer at Easingwold 

and Rob Calvert joined as a Civilian 

Paul Sewart (Left) hands over to 

Brian Woodburn 

The future awaits 

Instructor. Jill Rawson became the 

Squadron’s second female Cadet 

Warrant Officer. 

It was another successful and busy 

year. As well as the normal activities, 

walking, orienteering and field craft 

also featured. Easter camp took 

place at RAF Halton and a visit to 

Eden Camp, near Malton was 

attended by those in the picture 

below. 

Cadet Love and Flight Lieutenant 

Woodburn attended the special 

Millennium Camp called Air Cadet 

2000, at the Royal Air Force College 

Cranwell in Lincolnshire. This was a 

gathering of cadets from all 

squadrons and the CCF. 

For the first time in its history, the 

squadron won the overall Wing 

Swimming Trophy beating the other 

21 squadrons. Shooting was also 

popular and good levels of skill were 

72

eing achieved, resulting in the 

squadron being placed second in 

the Topcliffe Cup. In the picture 

opposite the medal winners are 

left to right, Cadet Corporal 

Fawcett, Cadet McLean, Cadet 

Flight Sergeant Davitt, Mr Bain, 

Cadet Sergeant Pulleyn and 

Cadet Douglas. 

The staff and Committee 

members in 2000 are pictured 

below: Back Row left to right - 

Jon Mennell, Simon Wade, Phil 

Pulleyn, Judy Pulleyn. Front Row left 

to right - Dennis Tottie, Margaret 

Tottie, Hazel Love, Paul Sewart 

(Outgoing CO) Ray Kidd, Squadron 

President, Brian Woodburn (new 

CO) Brian Mennell, (Chairman) Liz 

Skingle, Rob Love. 

Shortly after this picture was taken 

Hazel Love left the Committee and 

Rob Love went on to be the Central 

and East Yorkshire Wing Treasurer, 

a very important job which did 

extremely well until retiring in 2009. 

Fundraising was as always important 

and thanks to Rob Love the 

Squadron was to receive a large 

quantity of donation of goods from a 

major supermarket chain over the 

next few years. We were able to sell 

toys sweets and all kinds of quality 

goods at several shows and gala 

days helping us raise those much 

needed funds. 

73

A very poignant moment of the year 

was a ceremony on 10th December 

2000, held at the graveside of Flying 

Officer Slater who is mentioned in 

Chapter 2. The short ceremony, 

conducted by Reverend Tony Hart, 

commemorated the fiftieth 

anniversary of his death and was 

attended by William Slater's sister, 

Mrs Rita Dawson. A party of cadets 

was in attendance when Pilot Officer 

Jon Mennell laid a wreath on the 

grave and took the salute as the last 

post was played. Pilot Officer 

Mennell was the same age as Flying 

Officer Slater when he was killed. 

L to R Cadets McLean, Pulleyn, Cryer and 

Hammond 

The year ended with a Dining in 

Night at the Galtres Centre on 

Wednesday 20th December 2000 

where the Guest of Honour was 

Wing Commander Kidd. 

The Year 2001 bought about the 

60th Anniversary of the formation of 

the Air Training Corps and the 


held a mammoth service in York 

Minster on Sunday 4th February 

2001 as can be seen in the 

photograph on the next page. 

Representatives of all 22 Squadrons 

were there along with the Lord 

Lieutenant of North Yorkshire, the 

Lord Mayor of York and the Civic 

Party and senior military dignitaries. 

Many ex cadets were also invited 

whose service ranged through the 

sixty years. The plan on the day was 

to have a large parade of over 400 

cadets and two bands through the 

City to the Minster service but sadly 

the weather was appalling and the 

parade was cancelled. 

The 13th February also saw another 

change in command when Pilot 

Officer Jon Mennell took over from 

Flight Lieutenant Brian Woodburn. 

Pilot Officer Jon Mennell (left) takes command 

74

On the same day Pilot Officer 

Mennell promoted three cadets to 

Corporal who were to play a 

significant part in the Squadron over 

the next few years. Left to Right 

below, Corporal Skingle, Corporal 

Hammond and Corporal Love. 

A rising star at this time in athletics 

was Cadet Nicki Bolton who started 

to win many awards at Wing and 

Regional level. Following on from 

several medals in the Wing 

Nicky Bolton 

75

Competition on 13th May she 

represented the Central and East 

Yorkshire Wing at the Regional 

Competition in July and scooped four 

gold medals which helped the Wing 

to win the Regional Trophy for that 

year. She can be seen below with 

Group Captain Gambold the 

Regional Commandant receiving one 

of the trophies. 

Nicki Bolton with her many medals 

Further success followed in shooting 

with an excellent performance by the 

Easingwold team in the Topcliffe 

Cup. At the end of a tough 

competition both Easingwold and 

110 (City of York) squadron were 

equal on points in first place. This 

resulted in higher scoring being 

required but sadly Easingwold 

Squadron were just pipped by York 

into second place. 

The picture above shows Civilian 

Instructor Phil Pulleyn (centre rear) 

who was placed third in the adult 

competition with the team who are 

rear L to R Sergeant Helen Pulleyn 

(daughter of Phil) and Corporal Love 

with front row L to R Corporals 

Skingle and Hammond. 

In May the Squadron took part as 

usual in the Wing Training Day. 

Narrowly beaten into second place in 

the First Aid Competition they did 

have a first place in the model 

diorama. Interestingly their novel 

idea of an air sea rescue launch led 

them to be the first winners where a 

boat took centre stage. It was though 

an excellent diorama and the cadets 

who made it are shown opposite. 

The middle of the year saw the 

Squadron celebrate the 60th 

Anniversary of the Corps with a 

massive presentation night at the 

Galtres Centre. Guest of Honour was 

the Chief Constable of North 

76

Yorkshire Police, Mr David 

Kenworthy. Senior Guests included 

the Mayor of Easingwold, Councillor 

Diane Gallon, Group Captain 

Gambold the Regional Commandant 

and Wing Commander Kenneth 

Davies who commanded the Central 

and East Yorkshire Wing. Many “Old 

boys” were present as well as 

members of staff cadets and 

parents. An excellent evening. 

The pictures show our Padre for 

many years Reverend Tony Hart 

who was also the Vicar of 

Easingwold receiving a crystal glass 

paper weight from the Chief 

Constable on his retirement from 

both posts. Tony had been an 

excellent padre and the members of 

the Squadron were sorry to see him 

go. He was succeeded in 2002 by 

the new Vicar of Easingwold the 

Reverend J Harrison. The other 

picture shows the Chief Constable 

presenting the aviation award to 

Corporal Greg Love. Also at the 

Open Evening the Mayor of 

Easingwold, Councillor Diane Gallon 

announced that the previously 

written History of Easingwold Air 

Cadets would be placed in a Time 

Capsule in a vault in the Parish 

Church. The capsule which will be 

filled with argon gas will contain 

many items connected with the town 

and will remain sealed for 100 years. 

Pilot Officer Mennell said at the time 

“What a brilliant way to 

commemorate the 60th Anniversary 

of the Corps. We are very pleased. 

I wonder what the Air Cadet 

Organisation will be like a hundred 

77

years on and what people will make 

of us then.” I hope they will enjoy 

reading about the Squadron and its 

members. 

The picture above shows Corporal 

Hammond receiving the Adventure 

Training award from Group Captain 

Gambold. 

It was also in 2001 that the sad news 

was received that former 

Commanding Officer Ray Preston, 

himself a retired North Yorkshire 

Police Officer, had died at the early 

age of 55 years. 

Better news was to hand when we 

heard that ex cadet Andy Ingham 

(Mentioned in Chapter 4) had been 

promoted to Wing Commander in 

the Royal Air Force Regiment which 

he had joined after leaving the 

Squadron. 

Cadets took part in the Battle of 

Britain Parades at Elvington Air 

Museum on 2nd September and the 

one at York Minster on 16th 

September. The large picture below 

shows all the cadets and staff from 


who attended the Elvington Parade 

in front of a brand new Merlin 

helicopter which had just joined 

Royal Air Force service. 

Also opposite right, Cadet Sergeant 

Michael McLean talks to Group 

Captain Cornfield, Station 

Commander at RAF Linton on Ouse 

when part of the Honour Guard at 

the Yorkshire Air Museum prior to 

the parade. 

Ex Easingwold Cadet Jack Towse 

had become a Commissioned 

Officer after service with the Navy 

78

and took over as the Commanding 

Officer of the Ripon Squadron 

(pictured above). 

By mid 2001 Paul Sewart had 

returned back to Easingwold and 

took over as the Squadron’s 

Commanding Officer with Jon 

Mennell as his second in command. 

As always the Squadron led the 

Remembrance Day Parade in 

Easingwold. Pictured Cadet 

Caroline Marr lays the wreath. 

The year ended with a Dining In 

Night at the Galtres Centre on 18th 

December. Guests of Honour were 

Group Captain and Mrs Gambold. 

The three course meal was cooked 

by Squadron Treasurer, Mrs 

Margaret Tottie. Flight Sergeant 

Chris Fawcett the senior cadet led 

the speeches which concluded with 

flowers being presented to Mrs 

Tottie and Mrs Gambold. 

2002 was upon us and it was Her 

Majesty the Queen’s Golden Jubilee, 

a memorable year for all. 

Sunday 3rd February saw 

Easingwold cadets join York, 

Harrogate, Ryedale, Hull West, 

Ripon and Richmond Squadrons for 

the annual Air Cadet Sunday 

Parade. The cadets paraded 

through York followed by a service 

at All Saints Church. The Lord Mayor 

of York, the Civic Party and Group 

Captain Gambold the Regional 

Commandant were in attendance. 

On Thursday 28th February 2002 

the Squadron was privileged when 

79

Wing Commander Howard Nash the 

Officer Commanding 230 Squadron 

of the Royal Air Force fetched across 

two of his Puma helicopters to RAF 

Linton for an exercise and offered a 

ride to twenty four members. Wing 

Commander Nash is the father of 

Squadron cadet Andrew Nash and 

both helicopters flew in close 

formation for forty minutes with the 

pilots using night vision goggles. It 

was an excellent experience for all. 

Father and son are pictured below. 

On 28th April the Squadron took part 

in the annual Wing Training Day 

where the twenty two Squadrons of 


take part in competition in several 

activities. The Squadron team won 

one of these, aircraft recognition and 

so began a second generation of 

success up to national level. The 

team are seen above with Flt Lt Paul 

Sewart and Mr Gordon Fallowfield 

who organised the competition. 

Below Wing Commander Kenneth 

Davies presents Sergeant Andrew 

Skingle the Team Captain with the 

Cup - once again in Easingwold’s 

possession. 

Cadet Flight Sergeant 

Chris Fawcett entered 

the RAF (Reserve 

Forces) Small Arms 

Association’s Winter 

Postal competition – 

Ten NSRA ten bull 

cards shot over the 

2001/2 winter. This qualified him to 

compete in the Association’s 

Championships and Long Range 

event at Ash Ranges near Bisley. In 

Class 'C' he achieved first place in 

Match three (60 shots to count at 50 

80

metres) - first place in Match Four 

(60 shots to count at 100 yards) and 

first in the Long Range Aggregate of 

matches 1, 3 and 4. He also took the 

President’s Cup based on points 

awarded in both the winter postal 

and long range event. The picture 

above shows Chris with medals and 

trophy. 

Over the weekend of 31st May to 

2nd June, seventy cadets from eight 

squadrons in the Wing enjoyed 

participating in Operation Jubilee 

Challenge organised by Flt Lt 

Johnnie Latimer, the Air Cadet 

Liaison Officer at RAF Linton on 

Ouse. After a night on the airfield the 

cadets split into two groups, one 

going to Strensall Army Training 

Ranges the other to Sutton Bank. 

Below: Sergeant Hammond issues 

the Easingwold Cadets with their 

ration packs for the weekend and 

Sergeant Hammond’s team after 

completing one of the exercises — 

the young cadet in the front centre 

being the brains behind their 

success. 

A night out camping for all at 

Strensall on the Saturday evening 

and then the teams swapped 

venues. A good weekend - enjoyed 

by all. 

Success in the Regional Training 

Day competition and Easingwold 

were once more to represent the 

North Region in the Corps Finals at 

the RAF Museum, Hendon, a 

generation since their last success. 

Sergeant Andrew Skingle (left) collects the 

trophy from Group Captain Cornfield. 

The cycle of York Mystery Plays is 

one of very few surviving examples 

of a form of drama that was once 

commonplace throughout the major 

cities of medieval England. Originally 

81

performed annually on the feast day 

of Corpus Christi, the cycle recounts 

the Christian history of the world 

from Creation to Last Judgment in a 

series of short individual plays 

performed in five locations in the 

centre of York. Altogether there are 

ten plays each performed on a set 

mounted on a wagon. The actors 

and musicians move with the 

wagons around the locations — the 

whole series taking about 14 hours 

to perform. 

So when it came to moving the 

wagons around the City on Sunday 

7th and Sunday 14th July that is 

where the air cadets came in. 110 

(City of York) Squadron cadets 

dressed in medieval costume helped 

with the Guild of Freemen of the City 

of York wagon and Easingwold 

Squadron cadets took on the whole 

task of moving the Company of 

Merchant Adventurers wagon in 

modern uniform. 

Each of the Sundays meant an early 

start for the Easingwold Cadets who 

at 7am moved the wagon from 

Leeman Road up to York Minster. 

During the afternoon the cadets 

moved the wagons between 

locations in front of thousands of 

tourists and local people. The 

military bearing and precision of the 

cadets stood out well among the 

medieval costumes and atmosphere 

of the day and their efforts were 

much appreciated by the organisers. 

Another first for the Squadron in 

2002 when Cadet Sergeant Andrew 

Skingle was awarded an Arkwright 

Scholarship to aid him through his A 

Levels. The Arkwright Trust is 

supported by industry and Andrew 

fought off tough competition to be 

nominated. His wish was to join the 

RAF as an Engineering Officer when 

he completes his education. 

Sergeant Skingle can be seen in the 

picture at the top of the next page 

when the cadets of Easingwold 

Squadron joined forces with the York 

Squadron on a joint bag pack at 

Sainsburys in York on October 12th. 

Some £900 was raised for the two 

Squadrons to share and put in to 

their funds. 

In November the Squadron held a 

later than usual presentation 

82

evening at the Squadron 

Headquarters. Awards were 

presented as follows: The Sports 

Trophy went for the second year 

running to Cadet Nikki Bolton and 

this was presented to her as seen 

below by Flight Lieutenant Brian 

Mennell the Squadron Chairman. Of 

great note and indeed great pride 

both for her and the Squadron is that 

by the time she received this award 

she had twenty five Wing and 

Regional Sports Medals. Other 

award winners were Cadet Flight 

Sergeant Love, Achievement in the 

Air. Cadet Carl Alsop the Air Gunners 

Trophy. Cadet Warrant Officer Chris 

Fawcett the Richmond Trophy for 

Shooting. Cadet Andrew Nash, 

Aircraft Recognition. Corporal Adam 

Duffield, Ray Kidd Award for 

personal effort and loyalty. Cadet 

Flight Sergeant Andrew Skingle was 

the Best NCO and Cadet Daniel 

Kedie was the Cadet of the Year. 

The Ernest Broad Award for 

outstanding service to the Squadron 

went to Civilian Instructor Brian Bain 

and he is seen below receiving his 

award from Squadron President, 

Wing Commander Ray Kidd whilst 

Flight Lieutenant Paul Sewart looks 

on. 

The Squadron again led the 

Remembrance Day Parade through 

Easingwold and as always the year 

concluded with a Dining In Night at 

the Galtres Centre where once again 

the staff and Senior Committee 

Members served the meal. The 

Guest of Honour was Flight 

Lieutenant Gary Mennell an ex cadet 

and now a serving RAF Officer who 

was an Instructor at the School of 

83

Flt Lt Gary Mennell (Right) with Flt Lt Paul 

Sewart 

Fighter Controllers at RAF Boulmer 

where he was also the Air Cadet 

Liaison Officer. After the meal he 

gave a talk supported by digital 

photographs of the work of RAF 

Fighter Controllers. 

2002 was indeed a very busy year 

for the Squadron. 

On Sunday 2nd February 2003 

cadets from the Squadron joined 

with other Squadrons for the annual 

ATC Sunday Parade, After a march 

through York accompanied by the 

Bands of 110 (City of York) 

Squadron and 872 (Hull West) 

Squadron a service was held in the 

Central Methodist Church in York. 

The service began with a minutes 

silence in memory of the seven 

astronauts killed on the Challenger 

Space Shuttle the day before. As 

usual the Lord Mayor of York and the 

Lady Mayoress attended. Those 

who attended are pictured below left. 

Red Nose Day in 2003 was heralded 

as “The big hair do”. The Squadron 

celebrated Red Nose Day with a fun 

night on 14th March. Cadets can be 

seen below with the blindfolded ones 

at the rear feeding those in front of 

them - a messy do by all accounts. 

Sunday 11th May saw the annual 

Wing Training Day arrive and by the 

end there was more success for the 

Squadron when once again the 

aircraft recognition team led by Flight 

Sergeant Skingle came first. He can 

be seen pictured top left of next page 

receiving the trophy from Mr Gordon 

Fallowfield. 

84

This was the beginning of a great 

year for the aircraft recognition team. 

They were to go on to win the 

Regional Competition and once 

again go onto the Corps competition 

at RAF Hendon. They were to come 

second which was a tremendous 

achievement and the best position 

ever achieved by the Squadron. 

The annual awards evening took 

place at the Galtres Centre in 

Easingwold on 16th May. The 


Captain Gambold and Mrs Gambold 

were the Guests of Honour. The 

Centre was full of guests and 

parents. Among the guests were 

members of the Royal Air Forces 

Association, the Aircrew Association 

and the Air Gunners Association. 

The award winners were Cadet 

Andrew Nash, Cadet of the Year. 

Cadet Carl Alsop, Ray Kidd Award, 

Flight Sergeant Andrew Skingle, 

NCO of the Year. Sergeant Nikki 

Bolton, Mennell Trophy for sport. 

Cadet Christopher Sykes the Air 

Gunners Endeavour Trophy. Cadet 

Flight Sergeant Greg Love, 

Achievement in the Air. Cadet John 

Calvert, The Commanding Officer’s 

award and Sergeant Jennifer Marr 

the Shooting Award. 

The Alec Hutchinson Memorial 

Trophy for outstanding service to the 

Squadron went to Civilian Instructor 

Rob Calvert. Rob is a Head Teacher 

and despite his very busy occupation 

he manages to spend a lot of time at 

the Squadron. He is pictured above 

with Group Captain Gambold. The 

prize winners are shown below with 

guests. (L to R) Wing Commander 

85

Ray Kidd, Squadron President, 

Group Captain Gambold, Regional 

Commandant and Squadron Leader 

Paul Watts the Commanding Officer 

of 642 Volunteer Gliding School 

based at RAF Linton on Ouse. Also 

in the picture above Cadet Flight 

Sergeant Greg Love is awarded his 

Gliding Instructor Wings by 

Squadron Leader Watts. Greg is now 

qualified to fly other cadets on air 

experience flying in the Vigilant 

Motor Gliders of 642 Volunteer 

Gliding School at RAF Linton on 

Ouse. Squadron Leader Watts said 

of him “Greg has completed the forty 

hours training required and he has 

done it in record time. It is due 

entirely to his commitment. He is 

always first in and last out on flying 

days and that commitment is 

important.” 

After several years of intense rivalry 

between 2487 Squadron and 110 

(city of York) Squadron in the 

Topcliffe shooting cup Easingwold 

finally came out tops beating both 

110 Squadron A and B teams. The 

winning team shown below are L to 

R Corporal Adam Duffield, Flight 

Sergeant Alec Hammond, Sergeant 

Jennifer Marr and Flight Sergeant 

Andrew Skingle. Once again the 

team was coached and led by 

Civilian Instructor Brian Bain. 

During the year two new Civilian 

Instructors joined the Squadron 

Susan Clarke and Tony Harteveld. 

Annual camp was held at RAF Valley 

and those who attended are with the 

group in the top picture opposite. 

Cadets also attended the Royal Air 

Forces Association annual service at 

the Yorkshire Air Museum on 7th 

September and the Battle of Britain 

Service at York Minster on 21st 

September. Both these occasions 

were with other Squadrons in the 

Wing and Elvington included 

Squadrons from other Wings. Those 

who attended Elvington are shown in 

the bottom picture opposite. 

Paul Sewart did well during 2003 

when he was awarded £250 towards 

Squadron Funds from his employer 

Parsons Brinckner-Hoff for his 

community involvement. Also 

noteworthy was the Squadron’s 

86

efforts in raising funds for the Royal 

Air Forces Association Wings 

Appeal involving both the York and 

Thirsk Branches. The collection in 

Haxby and Wigginton raised some 

£600 and resulted in the York 

Branch presenting the Harry Cowan 

Trophy for the biggest contribution 

towards this year’s Wings Appeal 

jointly to Easingwold and York 

Squadron. 

It was the 29th November when the 

Squadron Aircraft Recognition 

Team went to Hendon for the Corps 

Competition and came second out 

of the six Regional Finalists. A great 

achievement. They are pictured on 

the next page with Flight Lieutenant 

Sewart who as a cadet was in the 

previous team that had three 

attendances at Hendon back in the 

late 1980s. 

87

The end of the year was celebrated 

by the traditional Dining In Night. 

This time the Guest of Honour was 

Flight Lieutenant Jack Towse, ex 

cadet of the Squadron and now the 

Commanding Officer of 886 (City of 

Ripon) Squadron. 

And so 2004 arrived with good news 

that Cadet Greg Love had been 

awarded an Air League of Great 

Britain Flying Scholarship which 

included 15 hours of flying in a 

powered aircraft towards the award 

of a Private Pilots Licence. He was 

also awarded a place on the 2004 Tri 

Service Expedition to India to take 

place in August 2004. 

Flying Officer Gordon McElroy 

returned to join the staff as a 

Squadron Officer having spent the 

past few years as the CO of 1323 

(Ryedale) Squadron. 

8th February saw a change in venue 

for the ATC Sunday Parade when 

Easingwold joined other Squadrons 

in Ripon for a parade to Ripon 

Cathedral and a service to 

commemorate the 63rd Anniversary. 

Lord Crathorne arrives in Ripon 

Over 300 cadets and staff paraded 

on a very cold but dry day. Some 

pictures of the day above. Guests 

included Lord Crathorne the Lord 

Lieutenant, Della Canning the Chief 

Constable of North Yorkshire and 

Group Captain Cross the Chief of 

Staff at Headquarters Air Cadets as 

well as the Mayor of Ripon and other 

civic dignitaries. 

88

In March 2004 the Squadron entered 

a shooting competition with a 

difference. The competition is called 

'The 2004 Green Howards Country 

Life Small Bore competition'. It was 

the first time that Easingwold had 

competed. The course of fire is that 

each member fires five rounds 

grouping, ten rounds rapid in 60 

seconds, five rounds snap - three 

seconds per shot. The team is then 

instructed by the leader to fire three 

shots each at hidden 1" target circles 

only visible to the leader by 

telescope on a landscape picture, 

seen in the background of the picture 

on page 100. The team in the picture 

below are: left to right, Sgt. Pethen, 

F/Sgt. Skingle, Sgt. Bolton, Cdt. Marr 

and Cpl. Nash seen here with 

Squadron Leader Steve Wiggins, 

then Wing Staff Officer. It was not 

long before Steve Wiggins would be 

promoted to Wing Commander and 

took over command of Central and 

East Yorkshire Wing. His time as a 

member of staff at Easingwold had 

stood him in good stead. 

On 25th May the squadron held 

another awards evening at the 

Galtres Centre. The Guest of Honour 

was the Regional Commandant 

Group Captain John Middleton. The 

winners of awards were as follows: 

Cadet Cook CO’s award. Flt Sgt 

Nicki Bolton the Richmond shooting 

trophy. Flt Sgt Skingle the Alec 

Hutchinson Award. Cadet Thompson 

the Air Gunner’s Endeavour trophy. 

Cadet Tollan the Ray Kidd Award. 

Cadet Katrina Marr the Mennell 

Sporting Award. Cadet Mitchinson 

Achievement in the Air award. Cadet 

of the Year was Cadet Claire Armer 

and the NCO of the year was Cadet 

Sergeant Carl Alsop. 

Cadet Warrant Officer Greg Love 

had been nominated as the Wing 

representative to go forward for the 

national Dacre Sword Award for the 

best male cadet in the Corps. 

Unfortunately he was not successful 

but received an award as the wing 

representative from Wing 

Commander Wiggins. 

In August Cadet Flight Sergeant 

Skingle was awarded one of the Air 

Training Corp’s newest awards, the 

British Aerospace Systems Air Cadet 

Engineering Scholarship which gave 

him two weeks hands on experience 

with the aircraft at Tayside Airport in 

Scotland. 

Nicki Bolton whose picture with all 

her sporting medals had been 

published in Air Cadet Magazine was 

amazed when she received a letter 

from the Houses of Parliament. Anne 

McIntosh MP for the Vale of York 

and Shadow Minister for Transport 

89

and the Environment wrote to her on 

6th July. 

“Dear Nicki, I was amazed to read in 

the Air Cadet Magazine that you 

have amassed 35 medals in sport 

and shooting during your time with 

the Easingwold ATC Squadron and 

am writing to offer my 

congratulations. Well done. This is a 

tremendous achievement and will, I 

am sure, be looked on very 

favourably should you wish to pursue 

a career in the Royal Air Force” 

In September cadets from the 

squadron again collected in Haxby 

and Wigginton for the RAFA Battle 

of Britain Wings Appeal. In two 

evenings each lasting 2 hours a 

small band of cadets and staff 

collected £722.43. Top collector was 

Cadet Trinder with £114.44 closely 

followed by Cadet Mitchinson with 

£110.39. Those who took part are 

pictured below 

October was to be a mammoth 

month both on the wing and at 

Easingwold. 

Firstly Cadet Warrant Officer Greg 

Love was appointed as Lord 

Lieutenant’s Cadet for North 

Yorkshire in what is thought to be the 

first time in Easingwold’s history. At 

a ceremony at the ACF 

Headquarters in Acomb, York, Lord 

90

Greg with his parents, Rob and Hazel Love (right) and grandparents (left) 

Crathorne, the Lord Lieutenant for 

North Yorkshire invested Greg for 

one year along with an Army Cadet 

and a Sea Cadet. Greg would be 

given opportunities in that year to 

accompany the Lord Lieutenant on 

official visits in the county. 

Secondly the Central and East 

Yorkshire Wing was to be formally 

inspected by the then Commandant 

Air Cadets, Air Commodore Jon 

Chitty. The event took place at RAF 

Linton on Ouse on Sunday 10th 

October and Easingwold cadets and 

staff joined cadets and staff from all 

the other squadrons in the wing to 

put on a show for the commandant. 

The day started with a formal Guard 

of Honour involving a cadet from 

every squadron outside the Officer’s 

Mess plus every squadron standard. 

Pilot Officer Natalie Train was in 

charge of the Guard of Honour and it 

paved the way for an excellent day. 

Among the activities were drill, sport, 

first aid and aircraft recognition, the 

latter of course being won by 

Easingwold. After a final parade the 

Commandant left very impressed. 

Commandant inspects the Guard of Honour 

91

F/Sgt Skingle being presented with the aircraft 

recognition Trophy 

Sgt Nicki Bolton extols the merits of the wing 

magazine -Winged Flyer - to the Commandant 

Cadet Warrant Officer Greg Love talks to Mrs 

Chitty about his expedition to Nepal 

As can be seen, Easingwold cadets 

featured prominently on the day. 

Also featuring was the Squadron 

President Wing Commander Ray 

Kidd who had just completed writing 

the history of the Central and East 

Yorkshire Wing entitled Wings of 

Youth. He can be seen below 

handing the Commandant a signed 

copy. 

The third interesting event of the year 

was an expedition to Nepal 

sponsored by the Reserve Forces 

and Cadets Association, Yorkshire 

and the Humber in which selected 

senior cadets of all three cadet 

forces had the opportunity of a 

lifetime. Cadet Warrant Officer Greg 

Love was one of a handful of air 

cadets to take part. It wasn’t just a 

case of going though. Serious 

sponsorship was required to fund the 

cadet contribution and buy kit of over 

£2000. 

The following pictures give some 

idea of just how good it was. 

92

Not a great deal has been said about 

the Civilian Committee element of 

the squadron over this five years but 

they were as active as always. Brian 

Mennell remained the Chairman 

having taken on the additional 

responsibilities of Deputy Wing 

Chairman in 2002 as well as his 

media role. Margaret Tottie remained 

Treasurer and John Sutherland and 

Marianne Sutherland joined the 

L to R John Sutherland, Marianne Sutherland 

and Brian Mennell 

committee. John as Secretary 

initially. John was to become 

Chairman in April 2006 when Brian 

Mennell was re-commissioned as a 

Flight Lieutenant and attached to 

Headquarters Air Cadets but 

seconded to Media duties within 

Central and East Yorkshire Wing. 

As always the staff and cadets led 

the Easingwold Town Remembrance 

Day Parade and the year ended with 

the traditional annual Dining In Night 

at the Galtres Centre. Guests of 

Honour were Wing Commander 

Steve Wiggins and his partner Ms 

Rachel Hall (Remember the girl in 

the bed race of 1985? Page 38). It 

was an excellent dinner organised by 

93

CI Tony Harteveld and Flying Officer 

Jon Mennell and was a good 

opportunity for Civilian Instructor 

Judy Pulleyn who had recently left 

the squadron to be presented with 

an RFCA Letter of Appreciation. 

The cadets in their finery and a smart bunch 

they are 

Tony Harteveld gets a present 

Judy Pulleyn receiving her Certificate from 

Wing Commander Steve Wiggins 

Having published the first edition of 

the squadron history in 1999, this 

was the story after I added the first 

five years of the new millennium to 

the second publication back in 2004. 

At the end of that publication I wrote: 

Air Cadets continue to parade twice 

a week in Easingwold. The squadron 

is thriving and it is well staffed by 

enthusiastic and committed people 

both staff and civilian committee 

alike. Many of the people now 

responsible for the Squadron have 

their roots in the Squadron either as 

staff, as cadets or as the parents of 

cadets and that is a very good thing. 

Long may the Squadron prosper and 

long may the cadets enjoy their 

membership. The Air Training Corps 

is without a doubt the greatest youth 

movement in the country and we 

have some fantastic young people 

on board. This Squadron is no 

exception and our people’s 

achievements over the years have 

been truly fantastic and are 

chronicled here. I hope I have given 

them the credit they deserve. 

94

Chapter 8 – Racing towards 40 

Still going strong and getting stronger 

On 1st July 2004 the Squadron was 

35 years old. Five years have sped 

by since and I find myself being 

requested to bring the squadron 

history up to date for its 40th 

anniversary in July 2009. Because of 

other duties I have lost some touch 

with the day to day activities at 

Easingwold. Fortunately, I have the 

assistance of the monthly Wing 

Newsletter, the Wing(ed) Flyer, 

which I edit and which regularly 

features the good endeavours of 

Easingwold staff and cadets. 

It wasn’t long into 2005 when on 12th 

March there was a change of 

command. Flight Lieutenant Paul 

Sewart was transferred to take 

command of 110 (City of York) 

Squadron and Jonathan Mennell 

now promoted to Flight Lieutenant 

took over command for a second 

time. Jonathan, like Paul was an ex 

cadet of the squadron. 

A few days later the cadets held a 

changeover party in front of invited 

guests. Quite a fun affair with several 

cameos and some very good 

impressions of the officers 

concerned. Flight Sergeant Carl 

Alsop led the merriment and Flt Lt 

Sewart was presented with a card, 

nearly as big as him. 

Highlight of the night was a 51 

“popper” salute with all the trailing 

95

Paul Sewart bids farewell to his cadets 

whilst Flt Lt Jon Mennell looks on 

debris landing accurately on the two 

officers. So came to an end the long 

and happy association with the 

Sewart family. 

In June 2005 the squadron won the 

wing small bore shooting trophy, The 

Topcliffe Cup for the third time when 

they beat York into 2nd place and 

Northallerton into third. The team 

shown below (L to R) are CWO Greg 

Love, Corporals Katrina Marr, Sarah 

Lund and Claire Armer. 

Another annual event for many years 

attended by both Easingwold and 

York Squadrons was the Service of 

Remembrance to Canadian Airmen 

who had served at Eastmoor Airfield, 

near York. At a memorial in the 

village of Sutton on Forest on the 

edge of the old airfield Canadian 

armed forces and veterans gather 

each year around 29th May to pay 

96

tribute to the members of 415 and 

429 Squadrons, Royal Canadian Air 

Force, who lost their lives operating 

from the base during World War 2. 

The previous picture shows the 

cadets from York and Easingwold 

who attended together with the crew 

of a Canadian Aurora Maritime 

aircraft of the present day 415 

Squadron who had flown over from 

Canada for the service. This 

particular service was very poignant 

as it would be the last time that 

serving members of the squadrons 

would attend as both squadron’s 

were due to be disbanded. In the 

centre of the picture wearing a blazer 

but no head dress is Doug Sample, 

who flies over from Canada at his 

own expense each year to attend the 

service. He actually flew from the 

station in wartime. He joined up and 

trained in Canada as a mid - under 

gunner, came over to England and 

flew a full tour of missions (30 plus) 

and was back in Canada before his 

nineteenth birthday. 

Just two days before the parade the 

squadron had held its Annual 

Awards Evening at the Galtres 

Centre. Guests of Honour was 

Group Captain Paul McDonald who 

had just left the Royal Air Force and 

was to become our Wing 

Administration Officer and Mrs 

McDonald. Also in attendance was 

Wing Commander Steve Wiggins 

and Ms Rachel Hall. 

Corporal Armer receives the Achievement in 

the Air Award from Group Captain McDonald 

Sgt Thompson received the RAFA Shield 

from Wing Commander Kidd 

Flowers from Cpl Marr to Mrs McDonald 

97

A gathering of some of the cadets after the presentations with Flt Lt Jon Mennell 

CWO Greg Love took up the mantle 

of accompanying the Lord 

Lieutenant at a parade in York on 

10th July, the national day to 

celebrate VE and VJ Days of the 

Second World War. Following a 

service in York Minster the Lord 

Lieutenant and the Lord Mayor of 

York took the salute at a parade of 

veterans. 

Two pictures of Greg with the Lord Lieutenant 

and the Lord Mayor of York 

98

Another first for the squadron was 

Sergeant Chris Thompson’s 

parachuting course. He was selected 

to attend an air cadet parachuting 

course with the Royal Air Force at 

Weston on the Green in Oxfordshire. 

The four day course culminated in a 

solo static line jump from 3500. He is 

pictured below at the moment of 

leaving the aircraft. Chris described 

his feelings as follows “Absolute 

quality. Amazing. That first moment 

when you leave the aircraft it’s an 

absolute dream - it’s awesome.” I 

think he enjoyed it? 

The annual collection for RAFA 

Battle of Britain Wings Appeal raised 

£1002.17p in just two evenings work. 

On Sunday 13th November cadets 

and staff turned out for the 

Remembrance Day Parade from the 

Market Place to Easingwold Parish 

Church. As the only military unit in 

Easingwold the squadron always 

forms an impressive part of the 

parade but this year just as the 

parade was mustering the Battle of 

Britain Memorial Flight Dakota flew 

overhead at around 500 feet. It’s 

amazing what Easingwold Squadron 

can arrange - or was it just a 

coincidence? 

So with the annual Dining In Night 

the last act of what had been a very 

busy and varied year for the 

squadron the doors were closed for 

Christmas and re-opened in the first 

week of January 2006. 

99

The first big event in 2006 was ATC 

Sunday which this year was a full 

wing parade of every squadron 

including Easingwold, in Hull. Led by 

the Corps of Drums of 872 (Hull 

West) Squadron the cadets made for 

a fine spectacle as they marched 

through the city to Holy Trinity 

Church. The salute was taken by the 

Lord Lieutenant of the East Riding of 

Yorkshire, the Honourable Mrs E 

Susan Cunliffe-Lister and the Lord 

Mayor of Hull. 

Once again there was to be a change 

in command of the squadron when 

Flight Lieutenant Jon Mennell stood 

down in April to be replaced by Flight 

Lieutenant Gordon McElroy another 

long time squadron member who 

was to return after a period in 

command of 1323 (Ryedale) 

Squadron and a Wing Staff post as 

Wing Adventure Training Officer 

which he was to keep. 

Shortly afterwards on 1st May the 


Captain John Middleton visited the 

squadron to carry out his inspection. 

He made several presentations that 

evening one of which was to cadet 

Rebecca Triffitt of her Silver Duke of 

Edinburgh Award (Pictured below). 

On 1st May the annual remembrance 

service took place at Sutton on 

Forest in memory of Canadian 

airmen who flew from nearby 

Eastmoor Airfield. Those who 

attended can be seen in the top 

picture of the next page. 

On 13th June the squadron held its 

annual awards evening in the Galtres 

100

Centre. Guest of Honour was 

Councillor Shirley Shepherd the 

Mayor of Easingwold. Wing 

Commander Wiggins was also 

present. Awards went to Cadet 

Oeschlager Endeavour Trophy. 

Corporal Triffitt Cadet of the Year 

and sporting achievement. Sergeant 

Armer NCO of the Year. Cadet Kidd 

the Ray Kidd Award. Cadet Fensome 

the Commanding Officer’s Special 

Award. The Alec Hutchinson Trophy 

for outstanding service to the 

squadron went to Mr Tony Harteveld. 

101

Above: Corporal Triffitt and other 

Easingwold cadets preparing for a 

ride in an Army Air Corps Gazelle at 

the Regional Training Day at Linton 

ion Ouse in June. 

Shooting success was announced 

when the squadron team of Sgt K 

Marr, Sgt C Armer, Cdt D Walmsley 

Cdt R Fordham and Cpl T Mason 

came fifth in the Green Howards 

Country Life small bore competition. 

Another annual parade attended 

regularly by the York area squadrons 

is Battle of Britain Parade at York 

Minster. This particular year cadets 

from York, Darlington, Easingwold, 

Wetherby, Knaresborough and 

Malton joined forces to lead a parade 

of veterans and ex service 

associations mainly the Royal Air 

Forces Association. Below the Band 

of 110 (City of York) Squadron make 

ready and above the cadets who 

attended with the Deputy Lieutenant, 

102

Air Commodore Bill Gambold and 

the Lord Mayor of York outside York 

Minster. 

As the year came to an end the usual 

Dining In Night was held at the 

Galtres Centre on 22nd December. 

The meal as usual was cooked by 

Mrs Margaret Tottie (pictured below) 

who was presented with flowers by 

the cadets. However Mrs Tottie was 

unaware that she had been awarded 

the Commandant’s Certificate for 

Meritorious Service for her 14 years 

as the squadron treasurer. She was 

presented with her award by Flight 

Lieutenant Brian Mennell, Wing Staff 

Officer and ex CO. 

103

2007 was to be the year that saw 

Easingwold Squadron propel itself 

onto the world stage. “Rock it ball” a 

new team game was invented locally 

by Dr Paul Hildreth and two 

colleagues. Paul headed up the 

marketing of the game and 

equipment As Paul’s son was a 

squadron member Flt Lt McElroy 

was approached for assistance and 

he and the cadet’s lapped it up. 

The game has very simple rules. It 

can be played by any number of 

players (Usually 5) equal on each of 

two sides. The number of balls in 

play equals the number of players on 

one side. Each player has a double 

ended scoop which is used to pick up 

a ball and flick it at an opponent. 

Hitting the player on the body below 

the head gains a point. If the 

opponent catches the ball in the 

scoop then they gain 2 points. The 

game is fast and furious over 2 six 

minute sessions. 

The cadets did so well that they 

played in the first ever World 

Championships at Leeds Carnegie 

Hall and were placed 4th. Those 

who played are shown below L to R 

Flt Sgt Carl Alsop, Cdt Robert 

Fordham, Cpl Ryan Young, Cdt 

Sterling Oeschlager, Cdt Alastair 

Jackson and Cpl Chris Mitchinson. 

104

Flt Lt McElroy 

said of the new 

sport “It’s a good 

game and it will 

catch on. It’s ideal 

for cadets. Our 

lads played very 

well”. 

Rock it Ball was 

Dr Paul Hildreth to thrive in the 

coming years and 

Easingwold was to carve its name in 

the history books as will be revealed. 

Another Awards evening on 23rd 

March saw Councillor Shirley 

Shepherd, the Mayor of Easingwold 

as Guest of Honour. Members of the 

Royal Air Forces Association, Air 

Gunners and Aircrew Association 

were also present. Award winners 

were: Sgt Jade Lawson NCO of the 

year. Cpl Stephen Fensome 

Achievement in the Air. Cdt Tom 

Hildreth Endeavour Trophy. Cdt 

Lynn Brooker Mennell Sporting 

Trophy. Cdt James Corden Cadet of 

Ken Whitfield of RAFA presents Sgt Jade 

Lawson with the NCO of the Year Award 

the Year. Cdt Robert Fordham the 

Ray Kidd Award. Cdt Oliver Kenny 

the C.O.s Special Award. Cpl 

Lindsay Kidd the Richmond Shooting 

Award. 

The Alec Hutchinson Award for 

outstanding service to the squadron 

was presented to Civilian Instructor 

Brian Bain. 

John Bracken of the Air Gunners Association 

presenting Cdt Tom Hildreth with the 

Brian Bain receives his award from 

26th May once again saw 

Easingwold and York cadets paying 

105

The award winners with the Mayor of Easingwold, Councillor Shirley Shepherd and other guests. 

tribute at the Canadian Memorial in 

Sutton on Forest. 

Rock it Ball continued a pace with 

three cadets selected to play for the 

England senior team in the World 

Cup. Left to right in following picture: 

Flight Sergeant Carl Alsop, Cdt Tom 

Hildreth and Cdt Sterling Oeschlager 

seen in their England shirts. At the 

World Cup competition held at 

Thornaby on 3rd June the England 

team won a Bronze Medal. 

At the Wing Training Day held at 

Linton on Ouse on 13th May 

Easingwold put on demonstration 

matches to promote the sport. It was 

well accepted by other squadrons. 

On 4th October the Lord Lieutenant 

for North Yorkshire, Lord Crathorne, 

was to visit Easingwold and in a 

ceremony at the Galtres Centre 

appoint Cadet Flight Sergeant Jade 

Lawson as his Lord Lieutenant’s 

Cadet for the year. This was the 

106

second time an Easingwold cadet 

had received this honour. 

Jade can be seen in these pictures at 

the ceremony with the Lord 

Lieutenant, the Chief Constable of 

North Yorkshire and with other 

cadets from the squadron who were 

also able to attend and support her. 

Rock it Ball became further 

entrenched on the squadron when 

Cpl Tom Hildreth and Cadet Warrant 

Officer Carl Alsop were invited to join 

the board of the newly formed Rockit-Ball 

Association. Tom as National 

development Officer and Carl as 

Technical Director. 

On 24th October the Corps and the 

squadron mourned the loss of Canon 

Jack Armstrong who died on 24th 

October 2007 after a long illness. 

Canon Jack had been the Wing 

Chaplain for many years but had at 

107

one time been the Corps Chaplain. 

He had officiated over the church 

service to commemorate squadron 

status on 1st February 1970 (Page 

18). Canon Jack was a well 

respected figure in the air cadets and 

will be sorely missed. 

The Late Canon John Hammond Armstrong 

MBE O St J BA Dip Th 

Corporal Rebecca Triffitt followed in 

the footsteps of Sgt Thompson when 

she too was selected for the ATC 

Parachute course at Weston on the 

Green. She too did her 3500 foot 

parachute descent as the pictures 

opposite show. I’m sure most of us 

can empathise with her probably 

wanting her mum in the first picture 

and she has certainly got more guts 

that me when she jumped out as 

seen in the second. 

The year ended with the Dining In 

Night and Christmas dinner was 

served to the cadets by the staff as 

usual. Onwards we rode then into 

2008. 

ATC Sunday was held in three 

different locations in 2008, 

Easingwold squadron paraded in 

Harrogate as below. 

In March Wing Commander Ray 

Kidd, the Squadron President was 

invited to a ceremony at the Royal Air 

108

Force College Cranwell where he 

was presented with a certificate to 

commemorate his long service. The 

presenting officer (left) is Air Chief 

Marshal Sir Michael Graydon who in 

his speech to the gathered recipients 

and their families said “ The Air 

Cadet Organisation is one of, if not 

the top national youth organisation in 

the United Kingdom, which 

continually produces fantastic 

citizens. It is a national treasure with 

a bright future and as a result needs 

to be looked after and enhanced 

further”. 

Officer Commanding Gordon 

McElroy, as if he didn’t have enough 

to do, was appointed a Sector 

Commander (Executive Officer of 3 

or 4 Squadrons) and promoted to 

Squadron Leader. He is pictured 

below. 

109

In April Tom Hildreth was honoured 

by the Rock it Ball Association when 

he was inducted into their newly 

established Hall of Fame. Although 

of young age he had worked very 

hard to develop the sport in the air 

cadets and in the Easingwold area 

and now several teams were 

established. He was the first 

international player selected, the first 

captain of the England Youth Squad 

and the youngest qualified official as 

well as having national duties in 

coaching. 

Cadet Warrant Officer Jade Lawson 

was nominated as the North Region 

candidate for the Dacre Brooch for 

the best female cadets in the Corps. 

She was down to the last six in the 

country. Unfortunately Jade didn’t 

win the trophy but Regional status as 

best female cadet is excellent. 

Friday 2nd May saw the annual 

awards evening with Guests of 

Honour being Councillor John 

Tanner-Smith, the Mayor of 

Easingwold and Wing Commander 

Wiggins. The awards went to: Flt Sgt 

Thompson the Ray Kidd award for 

effort and loyalty. He joined the 

Royal Artillery shortly after the 

awards night. Cadet Tester the 

Mennell Trophy for Sport. Cadet 

Mannion the C.O’s Special Award. 

Sgt Fensome - newly passed out as 

a Gliding Instructor at 642 Volunteer 

Gliding Squadron the Achievement 

in the Air Award. Cpl Young the 

Richmond Shooting Award and 

Cadet Nottage for the second year 

running was awarded the Air 

Gunners Endeavour Trophy. Cadet 

Gordon was named as Cadet of the 

Year and Cadet Warrant Officer Jade 

Lawson as NCO of the Year. Civilian 

Instructor Phil Pulleyn was awarded 

the Alec Hutchinson Award for 

outstanding service to the squadron. 

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Winners are shown below. May 5th 

and Easingwold continued to be at 

the forefront of Rock-it-Ball. They 

featured in the very first game of the 

newly formed Northern Leagues as 

the Easingwold Jets. In all they put 

up 14 players. All pictured above. 

Below members of the Central and 

East Yorkshire Wing including 

Easingwold cadets pose for a group 

photograph at RAF Linton on Ouse 

with 642 Volunteer Gliding Squadron 

And their aircraft on the Wing 

Training Day Sunday 11th May. 

111

Still on Rock it Ball, in October two 

members of the squadron Cadet 

Sterling Oeschlager and Cadet Tom 

Hildreth represented England in the 

Youth Team for the World 

Championships held in Hungary. 

Carl Alsop, now an Adult Sergeant 

went over as one of the referees. 

They came out victorious as World 

Champions. Tom, who captained the 

England Team said afterwards “That 

was an amazing experience. There 

was a great feeling in the squad. To 

travel as part of an international team 

and represent my country was 

unbelievable”. 

L-R Tom Hildreth, Sterling Oeschlager and 

Carl Alsop - all England players. 

2487 have now developed two 

teams both doing very well in the 

Rock-it-Ball league. One team is 

called the Raptors and the other the 

Typhoons. Very impressive kit is 

worn by each team most of which the 

cadets have funded themselves. 

They are regularly playing in 

exhibition matches and at charitable 

events and are busy expanding the 

sport within Central and East 

Yorkshire Wing through training and 

demonstration matches. 

Tom Hildreth explains the basic rules 

Typhoons and Raptors in their new kit 

On 22nd October ex cadet Helen 

Mather (nee Pulleyn and daughter of 

Phil) invited some of the squadron 

down to RAF Scampton where she 

works. Scampton is currently the 

home of the RAF Aerobatics Team, 

the Red Arrows. She had not only 

arranged a visit to the Red Arrows 

and the opportunity to watch them fly 

but also to the small arms trainer 

where cadets were able to hone their 

marksmanship skills under the 

expert direction of RAF Regiment 

instructors. There was also a visit to 

the MTC with some Mobile Team 

Challenge initiative exercises. A 

good day was had by all and another 

visit is on the cards. 

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The Scampton Group with one of the Red Arrow jets. Helen is on the left. 

Christmas was upon us again and 

the final act of the year was the 

Dining in Night. Once again all the 

cadets turned out in their finery to 

be served the traditional meal by 

the Officers. 

The following members of staff 

have not previously been 

mentioned or not mentioned for 

some time so an update is 

necessary. Greg Love became an 

Adult Sergeant as did ex cadet 

Andrew Ellis. Another ex cadet, 

Simon Wade was still there as a 

Civilian Instructor several years on. 

Two new civilian instructors had 

joined Tony Brooker, a parent 

whose daughter has since joined 

the Royal Air Force and another 

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parent Kaye Tester. Flight Sergeant 

Lindsay Kidd on reaching the age to 

move out of cadet service has been 

appointed an Adult Sergeant. Chris 

Mason still chairs the civilian 

committee with a recent addition as 

Secretary being Steve Raper. 

At the time of writing two of the 

Civilian Instructors Tony Harteveld 

and Tony Brooker have taken on the 

additional task (and not in any way 

insignificant task) of running all sport 

in the Central and East Yorkshire 

Wing. They are known with affection 

as “Team Tony” and are doing an 

excellent job. 

Tony Harteveld 

Tony Booker 

Rock it ball continues to spread. 

Easingwold took part in the first intersquadron 

event at Linton. 

Easingwold Typhoons won. Other 

squadron teams included York, 

Harrogate, Knaresbrough and of 

course Easingwold's Raptors. Wing 

Commander Wiggins is pictured 

below with the winners and other 

participants. 

Ex Cadet Warrant Officer Chris 

Fawcett who had left the squadron at 

the end of his cadet service and 

transferred due to work 

commitments to Scarborough 

Squadron received a prestigious 

award. 

Chris who was appointed an Adult 

Sergeant at Scarborough was 

awarded the Quinton Memorial 

Trophy as the best ex cadet to pass 

through the Adult Training Facility at 

RAF College Cranwell in 2008. The 

Quinton Memorial Trophy is a 

national award that was presented in 

memory of Flight Lieutenant J A 

Quinton who was one of several 

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aircrew killed following a mid air 

crash between two RAF aircraft near 

RAF Leeming on 13th August 1951. 

Each of the two aircraft had an air 

cadet on board. One sadly died but 

the other was saved by Quinton 

when he strapped him into the only 

available parachute and pushed him 

out of a hole in the side of the aircraft. 

John Quinton received a 

posthumous George Cross. 

Sergeant Fawcett is pictured below. 

The annual awards evening came 

around again on 5th June 2009 

attended by Wing Staff Officers, 

parents and members of the Royal 

Air Forces Association and the 

Aircrew Association. 

Numbered pictures show some of 

the award winners: 1. Wing 

President, Wing Commander Ray 

Kidd awards Sgt Hildreth with the 

1 

2 

Ray Kidd Award for loyalty and effort. 

2. RAFA York Branch Chairman 

John Allison presents the RAFA 

Shield for NCO of the Year to Flt Sgt 

Lindsay Kidd. 3. Aircraftswoman 

Lynn Brooker, an ex cadet who has 

just joined the RAF presents the 

Mennell Trophy for sport to Cpl Bull. 

4. Squadron Leader Andy Collings 

presents Cadet Ellis with the 

Commanding Officer’s Special 

Award. Other winners were Mrs Kay 

Tester who received the Hutchinson 

115

3 

4 

Award, Cadet Brooker who received 

the Air Gunners Award, Cpl James 

Cordon who received the Richmond 

Shooting Award, Cadet Raper who 

was presented with the Ernest Broad 

Award as Cadet of the Year and Cpl 

Amy Tester for Achievement in the 

Air. 

This will be my last edition of the 

squadron history as I race towards 

retirement from the Air Cadet 

Organisation. I will always cherish 

my time in the Corps and particularly 

my time with 2487 Squadron. The 

40th Anniversary of the Squadron is 

to be celebrated with a parade 

through the town and a Church 

service on Sunday 11th October 

2009. The Guest of Honour will be 

Air Commodore Ian Stewart, the 

Commandant of the Air Cadets and it 

should be a great day with the Town 

Council paying its tribute and a new 

Banner to be blessed. 

Air Commodore I R W Stewart B Sc RAF 

So starts the next 40 years. Good 

luck to the squadron, which over the 

next couple of years should attain a 

new headquarters and to all the 

present and future staff and cadets 

who are the life blood of it. Many of 

our ex cadets have gone on to be 

very successful in their chosen 

careers be they civil or military and 

all have become good citizens which 

really is what we are all about. 

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The History of Easingwold Air Cadets - Central & East Yorkshire ...

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