Memories are the most important asset we can own,
We enter this world with nothing and we leave with nothing,
Nothing but memories.
Like so many of you, I have my own memories of my Grandad,
He may have seemed domineering, strong and hasty at times,
But deep inside he had a heart of solid gold,
And an amazing, unique sense of humour.
Throughout my childhood my sister and I received letters and cards from my Grandad.
Inside the envelope we would find pieces of cereal, cat biscuits, screws and all sorts of things that he put in the envelope just to make us laugh, and he was right! It did make us laugh. It was such a bizarre and daft thing to do, you couldn't help but laugh!
But that was the thing about him, although he was practical and serious he could always make you laugh because of daft things he would say or do!
He would always speak his mind,
and I think some people were afraid of this.
If you asked his opinion for something he would give you his genuine opinion,
And I think that's important in remembering him,
He was a genuine person.
For this I admire him greatly.
One of the greatest memories I have of my Grandad, is when he and my Nan took my sister and I to Disneyland, Florida. It was a surprise Christmas Present. 
That day he had everything sorted out and showed us a video of where we were going and had leaflets and brochures. He was just as excited as we were and when we got there he wasn't any more relaxed!
I remember he would wake us up early in the morning and we would go and. have breakfast. Even if we didn't feel like eating, we had to have something.
It was just him looking after us and I remember him saying " make sure you eat plenty you've got a big day ahead of you", and he was so right! He would do everything he could in a day. He would come on the rides with us and take us to every corner of the parks to make sure that we didn't miss a thing. He was so eager we didn't even stop for lunch and that's when we knew we were glad he made us have breakfast!
He even came in the Nickelodeon studios with us. We were invited to be the audience of a children's game show and my Nan and Grandad sat in the audience full of children, having just as much fun as we were! Even after a day out he wouldn't stop there!

Every night he took us out for dinner. We went to a different restaurant every night, and he always wanted us to be adventurous and try something new!
And that's the type of person he was. He wanted to experience everything and wasn't afraid to do so! And as many of you know he was always.jetting off to some place far and new, to experience as many different cultures as he could!
He didn't put his arm around me to tell me that he loved me,
But I knew he did!
He showed his love by sharing his experiences with you!
He once took me to London to visit Buckingham Palace and Big Ben. He wanted me to experience the atmosphere and beauty of them. He took me to Chinatown and wanted me to eat duck. I didn't want to, but I now know it was only because he wanted me to experience it!
Not only did he want to experience life and everything in it,
He wanted to share his experiences,
And wanted us to experience life too!

I wrote a poem for him and I think you will all agree with me when
I say that the words I have used, reflect his personality.

I have only slipped away - into the next room,
I am I 
And You are You,
Whatever we were to each other, that we still are.
Call me by my old familiar name,
Speak to me in the easy way, which you always used,
Put no difference in your tone 
Wear no false air of solemnity or sorrow
Laugh as we always laughed
All the little jokes we enjoyed together
Play, Smile, think of me, Pray for me,
Let my name be ever the household word that it always was,
Let it be spoken without effort, without the trace of a shadow on it, 
Life means all that it ever meant, 
It is the same as it ever was,
There is an unbroken continuity.
Why should I be out of mind because I am only out of sight?
I am waiting for you, 
For an interval - Somewhere very near
Just around the corner, 

All is well.

"Dad passed away 7 years ago. Having just retired, he had spent the last 12 years of his life loving every minute of his job as a engine fitter for the Australian Governments FA/18 program. He was also a member of the RAAF Air Force Reserve." 

Simon sadly passed away in June 2001.The following is from Tony Bowden (a fellow Armourer).

I knew Simon well because he was a plumber and he also went from Halton to Culdrose with us for two years. At Halton Simon was a quiet confident person, unobtrusive, I think I recall he played football and of course was a bandsman, playing the trombone.
Ten of us plumbers went to the Culdrose holiday camp after we passed out, the RAF section had just opened and were support to ATDU, (Aircraft Torpedo Development Unit) trials. The holiday camp comment arises from the fact that on the inside cover of the Trials diary were 26 reasons why we could not conduct trials that day, the most implemented one in those days being due to the Cornish weather. Anyway, Simon was one of ten which included, Peter Bowden, Arthur Knight, Fred Daniels, ? Drysdale, Keith? Brooks ex-74th, ? Thomas, Ginge Walsh and ?
Simon arrived in a Austin 7 Tourer, with dickie seat, as you all know cars were just a dream to us, all about to be revealed, (where did we have intimate relations with the other gender before cars we available to us neuvo riche ?)
We soon discovered , like one hour after arrival on that friday, that the real Airforce didn't work weekends, not down there anyway, so off went Simon and I in the cab, (I was no fool in those days) with Pete and Arthur in the open climate dickie seat to Plymouth and Torquay. The roads in Cornwall were primative that far west, and before long the overladen Tourer had to overcome brake deficiency's by turning sharp right down a lane and reducing momentum against a grassy bank.
A later trip to Torquay occurred when Simon had exercised his weakness for exotic cars, this time a pre-select gear box Armstrong-Siddeley. During the trip we discovered one of the solid disc wheels was cracked, the crack was cicumferential, we wondered how long it would last and I remember resting my head on a headrest to get some sleep and detecting a click, click, click as we drove on. Simon taught me to drive in that car.
Simons lust for the exotic car developed apace when he discovered in the back of a Helston garage a Daimler of vintage, he had it completely rubbed down and resprayed, it looked magnificent, Simon prided himself in travelling along in top gear, selecting reverse, kicking the clutch and changing direction. To his disapointment the engine was not as magnificent as the body and the crankshaft failed. Its the same old story, why can't the engine bods keep up with the riggers?
For Simon's other love , music, we were in the habit of going to dances in Penzance where one night a Trad jazz band were looking for a trombone player and we, lets say, volunteered him, after a good session they wanted him to become a member of the band however in his quiet way he declined.
After two years at Helston with many a good memory, the unit suffered from the '57 defence cuts and we drifted away, during my conversion to "Fairy" at Yatesbury I ran into Simon again briefly, this time it was a,... well what else, a ROLLS...

Simon was an quiet,unobtrusive gentleman with a love for classy old cars.

Tony Bowden.

Peter Townsend 589204 (Airframes)

Peter came to Halton from the Deal area of Kent, a county which was the home of several of the Entry, and will be remembered as a cricketer of some renown having played for the station and for the Apprentices against such opposition as the Navy. He is also remembered as a private person, a quality which he carried throughout his life. Perhaps one exception to this is that in 1997 Peter stood as a candidate in the elections for Crowborough Parish Council on behalf of the Labour party. That he was not elected ( it takes a brave man to stand for Labour in Crowborough ) would have been disappointing, but later mollified by the goings-on within the Council with which Peter would not have wished to be associated. It was through one of his election flyers that Peter was 'rediscovered' by the Entry.

Peter served in the RAF until 1970 being based in Cyprus for a tour. His later career was as a building services engineer within the National Health Service, designing equipment such as air conditioning and heating for hospitals. Peter retired in 1992, moving with Janet to Crowborough in 1995 where he produced DIY to a high standard. Among his other interests was gardening. Janet tells me that Peter had four ambitions:- to run a marathon, to grow a beard, to gain an Open University degree and to join a political party. He achieved them all !

Peter died on October 3rd, 2002, after a dignified battle with cancer.

We send our sincere condolences to Janet and the family

John (Jake) Ramsey 589103 Instruments

John died on August 2nd, 2003, after a dignified battle with cancer.

We send our sincere condolences to Sylvia and the family

Dave Knight 589096 (Armourer)

Dave came to Halton from Bristol and will be remembered as a quiet, unassuming type. His later life was, however, not without incident - Laurie Richards recalls waking one cold night at Pembroke Dock with his bed on fire after Dave had overstoked the iron stove! Dave's next posting was to Chivenor where he performed the exacting task of Weapons Controller covering some 100 sorties per day. A later posting was to Tangmere in 1970. His last posting was to Innsworth where he played hockey and, after demob, worked nearby at Dowty.

In later life Dave lived with his family at Dawlish Warren, Devon, and attended several 75th Entry functions, the last being our 50th Anniversary at Warwick. The link with the Entry has continued for many years as George Deacon is married to Dave's sister.

Dave died on the 17th March, 2004, after suffering cancer for five months and was cremated at Exeter. Several of the Entry attended the funeral.

We send our sincere condolences to his wife, Dawn, and children, Sandra and Stephen.

The following Obituary by Bill Pash (33rd Entry) appeared in the Haltonian and is reproduced with the permission of its Editor, Bill Kelley.

I first knew Ken as a Pilot with Air UK back in the 79's. When I later joined Channel Express based at Bournemouth as Flight Manager, Ken was already there and I remember the warm welcome I received from him. I wondered why he had not been appointed to the job, but quickly learned that he was just not interested. His real passion was restoring and racing vintage Motorbikes. He always turned up for work on one of them and had frequent falls when indulging in hill racing but was always back at work on time. I had long retired when he had his retirement party after spending his last working days flying Lockheed Electras. When asked how he proposed occupying his time in retirement he replied that he was going to sail his boat around the world. I believed him!

The first E-Mail he sent was after he had passed through the Panama Canal and these continued after the arrived in New Zealand with a u/s engine, no electrics, no SatNav and limited sails. He spent the rest of 2004 with his son, readying the boat, "Mistic Lady" for the journey back to the U.K. The next E-Mail arrived from the East coast of Australia and long, descriptive messages continued almost weekly until Durban and beyond.

On the 26th July 2005, Ken was washed overboard by a freak wave and never seen again by his two crew members who were obviously very shocked. The boat was towed to safety by the South African Rescue Services. Ken Lived his life to the full, was an outstanding Pilot, and epitomised the spirit of Halton.

David (Lew) Lewington 589186 (Armourer)

For 'Lew' who was a well remembered member of the entry we have two reminiscences -

From His wife, Ann…

Dave left Halton and went straight to RAF Bruggen. On his return to the UK we met and were married in 1960. We had two children one boy and one girl who have five of their own.
He was posted in 1962 to RAF Seletar in Singapore with his family and he thoroughly enjoyed his time there.
After much upheaval in his trade as an armourer, he remustered through RAF Locking from 1967 to 1969 to the electronics trade something which he called the "fairies" in his armourer days. You will know the correct name for this trade.
From 1971 to 1976 he had a great time at RAF Cottesmore with the flight checking team travelling the world doing his job. In 1976 he was posted to Tongeren in Belgium to work on a NATO site. For the remainder of his service career until 1987 he spent this mostly in Tongeren interspersed with a few months in the UK as I had already was working there for NATO as a civilian.
He retired from the Service at age 51 and joined NATO as a civilian until he retired in 2001. he is remembered by his colleagues as having a remarkable sense of humour. You may remember he was also a talented football player and later a keen golfer.

From his friend and fellow Armourer, Bill Mountford

When Dave Lewington arrived at Halton he was one of a Southampton contingent which included like Bray, Tony Collins, Brian Drysdall, Mike Topp, Trevor Nutland and myself (Bill Mountford), all of whom,except Trevor, attended the same school, Tauntons Grammar. Lew was one of the first group of Armourers to be raised to LAA status, I think the others were Bert Braillard and Jerry Baker. He also soon became a prominent member of the outstanding Apprentices football team.
After passing out we were both posted to Bruggen,along with Geoff Jordan, Jim Harris, Ken Hollands and Derek Welsh (ex 73rd). Here Lew was again a regular member of a Station football team which included some outstanding National Service players.
Following our Bruggen tour we lost contact for several years. Around 1975/75 he arrived at Marham aboard an Argosy checking out radar equipment -- he had re-mustered to Ground Radar in the intervening years!
There then followed another long period of no contact.
When the 7T5 Club started up Dave Crosby asked if I could help in tracking down 2 or 3 Armourers, one of whom was Lew. By pure chance I saw an article and photo in the local rag about a Mr and Mrs Lewington celebrating their 50th or 60th anniversary in a retirement home. I recognised Lew's father, contacted him and was given the address and phone number which now appear in the 7T5 Club Directory.
It transpired that Lew's last posting was to SHAPE HQ (or AFCENT HQ) in Brunssum,Belgium. While there he and his family set up home across the border in Holland. He carried on working at Brunssum as a civvy after demob along with his wife Ann. Lew apparently played golf regularly at, of all places, Bruggen.
His popularity was typified at the Re-Union in Bournemouth last year. Virtually everybody I spoke to asked "Have you heard from Lew?" or "How is Lew getting on?"
It's amazing how you can so miss someone you haven't seen for years,as I'm sure many of you will agree.

We send our sincere condolences to Ann and her family

Henry "Dickie" Bird passed away on the morning of 31st December 2006. Dickie joined the 75th, as an electrician, in 1953 as some of us did. From the start it was obvious with a name like Henry and Bird he was always going to be called Dickie. I cannot recall his whereabouts after we left Halton. I only came upon him about 5 years ago when I was playing golf at Chippenham. He did leave the RAF early and worked for the aircraft industry. He suffered for quite some time with breathing difficulties and it was sad to hear today that his heart stopped beating of the morning of 31st December 2006.

RIP Dickie. Dave Bidgood

Ron Wash, - 588963 Armourer

Ron, and his wife Betty, came from Sidcup in Kent. At Halton Ron was a member of the military band playing second cornet and at times conducting rehearsals in the absence of the bandmaster. He was posted from Halton to Culdrose and was married during his time there. From Culdrose he went accompanied to Aden and then to Melksham as an instructor. Subsequent postings were to Germany and Waddington from where he left the Service as a Chief Tech after 22 years. He was then employed by Securicor in various roles including depot manager before leaving to start a taxi business with his son. Eventually his arthritis got so bad that he could not stay behind the wheel for long, so they sold the business. Betty and Ron had four children; Janet, Andrew, Alison and Nicola who between them have produced six grandchildren.

Ron died on the 17th September, 2005 of a heart attack which followed an operation for bowel cancer, and was cremated at Lincoln. Seven of the 75th attended. The family thank them and other 75th members who sent their condolences.

John Chatfield, 589117, (Instruments)

The Entry received a call from a Mr John Gittins to tell me that his next door neighbour, John K Chatfield, passed away on Friday 21 July 2006 of a heart attack brought on by the heat. Mr Gittins indicated that John was very much a loner and had a pint or two with him from time to time and always talked of the 75th Entry .

From Dave Bidgood
I remember John Chatfield very well. He had a BSA 250 tucked away in a barn over the railway bridge in Wendover (along with countless other m/cs & cars of varying descriptions) & he occasionally let me use it for trips to my home in Cliffe, Kent. One time I was going through Amersham and the con rod broke and the piston went through the cylinder wall !!! I think that was the last time I borrowed it !!
Sad to hear of his death. Most E & I brats in the 75th will probably remember him

Roger Rosvear 589256 Electrician

Roger passed away on the 9th of November 2007 after a long illness.His Wife said that he was very proud of his RAF Career
Comment from one of our members
I well remember Roger, he joined us from Cosford and I'll always remember that he always seemed to have highly bulled up boots and razor sharp creases in his uniform. I believe that he graduated as a SAA and was posted to RAF Upwood. In his later years he had at some time a television business and lived at Bognor Regis but finally moving to Bere Regis in Dorset

David Blunt 588296 (Airframes)

David Stanley Blunt passed away on Wednesday 7th May 2008 at 1.30pm.
As some of you are aware David had suffered with prostate cancer which spread to his bones causing him latterly in his life quite a lot of pain and discomfort. He died peacefully and quietly at home with his wife and children with him. We remember Dave as a cheerful and helpful fellow Brat who would always cheer you up in his broad countryside accent. Ian Hart attended the Funeral as representative from the Entry.
Dave was a regular attendee at our Re-Unions.

Brian Jory 589086 (Engines)

Brian wife, Terri, informed us that He died of cancer, on Sunday 5th of October 2008. it was at home and very peaceful.
Dave Bidgood attended the Funeral on behalf of the Entry.

John Clift 589147 (Armourer)

Gordon Clift (589147, Armourer) passed away on 23rd July 2009 at his home in Llangadfan, Powys peacefully after a short illness.
The following information was sent to us by his son, Tim Clift.
Dad told me that he served in Cyprus & Malta as well as Norfolk & the North East of England, but I'm not sure of the names of the RAF stations. Dad served in the RAF until 1962, shortly before marrying my mother. After the RAF he joined ICL as a Computer Engineer. He stayed with ICL until he retired & moved to Wales in 1994.

David Holcroft 589047 (Engines)

From Tony Page

I cannot remember ever meeting up with Dave at Halton even though we spent three years in close order there. In a way it is hardly surprising I suppose as he was training to become extremely proficient at avoiding getting saturated in used engine oil whilst changing spark plugs and I was learning how to keep Her Majesty's front line aircraft airborne by diligent use of the Herringbone stitch. Furthermore, Dave's 'off-duty' time - what there was of it, was apparently spent in sporting mode whilst I, in comparison, spent much of what should have been my leisure time in the tin room of No1 Wing Mess, working off yet another totally undeserved three, five or seven days jankers.

Our paths never crossed either during our time in uniform, for me it amounted to thirty seven years whilst Dave easily surpassed that. Even when we both gave up the struggle and joined that strange company of people known as 'civilians' neither of us knew that the other lived less than a mile away along the road.

As many will know, 'olcroft was, for some considerable time, the welfare co-ordinator for the RAFHAAA, a position that he held with great pride not only for the financial assistance and friendly counselling that he was able to give to those who sought or were offered advice, but also for the trust placed in him to ensure that the Association's assets were handled with due care. It was whilst attending a meeting at Halton some two years ago that Dave suffered the stroke that eventually compelled him to hand over the reins and attempt to take life a little easier.

Nevertheless, he continued with welfare work by involving himself with SSAFA where he 'flew the desk' for one morning each week. Previously, he had been on the team of our local Citizens Advice Bureau but, as I understood him to say, Dave had disagreed with the introduction of some paid members into management positions and so had resigned rather than cause a stir. As you may gather, he believed passionately that those who were able to should give their time and services freely to those less fortunate than themselves.

Never one to make mention of his achievements in life, Dave had absolutely no swank about him in any way. Perhaps, when hard pressed during one of our many 'discussions', he may just mention that he was one of an elite few who left Halton with the rank of corporal, forcing me to remind him that I was the only one who left there a fully trained dual tradesman - Airframe Fitter/ Scullery Maid!

Many people that I know from all walks of life had enormous respect for Dave Holcroft. He made friends easily and most certainly didn't suffer fools gladly. He enjoyed a pint, a political argument and a good laugh (except on the occasion when I proposed him for membership of a 'gentleman's dining club'. Asking me the form that his initial attendance would take I jokingly told him that he would be expected to give a brief account of himself. On the night, when introduced and to everyone's amazement he gave a typical OC Eng Wg's speech relating his life from primary school to pension book, holding up the meal for some twenty minutes. I was never forgiven!)His reliability in everything he did and promised was unquestionable and it is one of life's sad ironies that those who deserve the greatest consideration should be taken from us too soon.

He leaves behind a lovely family and many, many friends. We all miss him terribly.

Fred Smith 588917 (Armourer)

Fred passed away in September 2009.