Insight Spring 2023

INSIGHT INSIGHT

• It’s our free online platform exclusively for RAF personnel and their partners.

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We also provide relationship counselling and mediation support.

Find out more and register:

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MAIN RIDE: SAT 13 MAY 2023

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Spring 2023

From the Editor…

Sqn Ldr Stuart Lennox

Welcome all to my first edition as Editor of Insight magazine and the first of 2023!

Firstly I would like to start by saying a huge thank you to Sam Haley for his tenure and all the good work he has put into making the magazine what it is today. Also, a massive congratulations on his promotion to Wg Cdr and good luck with his future role.

In this edition I hope you enjoy an intriguing ‘insight’ into the organisation and activity of 51 Sqn. A unit at the very forefront of Defence priorities during a very demanding time. There is also a poignant look back at the late Queen Elizabeth II’s involvement in the Brownies organisation, coverage of 1 ISR Wg’s awards night and a look at the RAF Benevolent Fund’s Operation Christmas endeavours. Overall, a very diverse selection of articles that I hope you enjoy reading.

Looking forward, I see the next edition being dominated by the activity over Exercise COBRA WARRIOR and the various King’s Coronation Events. As always if you would like to be featured or have suggestions on content or improvements please contact the team on WADInsightEditorialTeam@mod.gov.uk

EDITORIAL TEAM:

WAD-InsightEditorialTeam@mod.gov.uk

External Email:

Use personal email addresses listed Tel: +44 (0)1522 726704

Editor:

Sqn Ldr S Haley

WAD-InsightEditorialTeam@mod.gov.uk

Deputy Editor: Flt Lt D.J Hopkinson daniel.hopkinson524@mod.gov.uk

Designer: Amanda Robinson

Advertising by: Jayne Bailey

Station Commander’s Foreword...

Gp Capt Mark Lorriman-Hughes

visit the heritage centre, 51 Sqn and the old ATC tower during their time here at RAF Waddington.

51 Sqn

Welcome to the Winter edition of the Station magazine to close out 2022. As the year comes to an end, it’s a great opportunity to look back and see how much we have achieved over the past 12 months.

I write as we have recently celebrated a number of partnerships and success, with the Waddington Awards, Industry Day and a visit from the Honorary Air Cdre HRH the Earl of Wessex KG GCVO ADC. He met a wide range of personnel on Station and I’m sure there will be some articles and pictures in the New Year edition of Insight. This edition is crammed full of history. 51 Sqn have written about Albert Gunn, a former POW who recently passed away, but with an incredible story he leaves behind. XIII Sqn have written about the Whisky Hotel 799 shoot down during a reconnaissance patrol; believed to be the last Air to Air loss by the service during conflict. We also were pleased to host the Veterans of the Cosford Royal Aeronautical Society who were able to

As we head into the festive period, Sophie Broady who is a mental health nurse working with XIII Sqn, has provided some really useful information on how to make the most of your time off and money during the winter break. Importantly and often forgotten or disregarded, she has offered some advice on self-care and ensuring we take care of our own wellbeing.

As a front-line operational Station, Christmas will be different for many of us. The Station continues to lean heavily into ops and this will carry on regardless of what the rest of the country are doing. It’s worth remembering that our roles, the tasks we undertake and support we offer both at home and overseas contribute to a level of freedom that everyone enjoys. Be it COVID support last winter to military assistance to the civil authorities, flying sorties, PED’ing data and imagery plus all the support functions, which keep a busy station running. This work goes a long way to supporting our international partners and protecting the UK and its people, 365 days a year.

Thank you for your sterling efforts through an incredibly successful year at RAF Waddington and best wishes to you and your families for a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Wg Cdr Bissett is no stranger to the RC-135 having previously completed a tour on 51 Sqn in 2015 as XO, where he flew numerous operational sorties with British and American crews. 51 Sqn are delighted to have him return as Officer Commanding.

Since taking over, the squadron has forward deployed two aircraft to Souda Bay, Crete in support of both Op ROCKHARD and Op SHADER in November 2022, and again in January 2023. Whilst deployed at Souda Bay representatives from the Squadron took part in the remembrance commemorations at the Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery at Souda Bay. Additionally, several representatives from the squadron attended the various 51 Sqn remembrance commitments at Selby Abbey, Pollington Airfield Memorial Garden and Tingley. During the November Souda Bay deployment, 51 Sqn Engineers had a challenging fuel fault to contend with. Having noticed a suspected fuel leak, work was undertaken to prevent the leak from progressing any further and the aircraft was

recovered to RAF Mildenhall, for rectification. Whilst at Mildenhall, several aircrew deployed there to provide an aircraft guard force, fortunately returning back to Waddington on the 23rd December.

With both aircraft back at RAF Waddington, the Sqn continued to conduct Operations in support of Op ROCKHARD over the festive period. Last-minute changes to the flying tasking over the Christmas leave period left many with no option but to cancel leave to meet the busy flying program. January was a time to catch up on welldeserved leave, where possible, whilst continuing to support Operations. Additionally, the Sqn also conducted work up training, in order to redeploy both aircraft to NSA Souda Bay at the end of January. This was a further opportunity to allow the L7s to consolidate and hone their skills on Op SHADER, whilst the other aircraft continued to support Op ROCKHARD.

51 Sqn were also delighted to host a visit from Honorary Air Commodore, The Earl of Wessex and Forfar, HRH Prince Edward. He was given a tour of the Squadron by Sqn Ldr Hemlin followed by a brief by Flt Lt

Commonwealth War Graves Cemetary Souda Bay.

Wg Cdr Bissett formally took over the reins of 51 Sqn on the 21 Oct 22.

McLaughlin on current 51 Sqn operations and a capabilities brief on the RC-135W Rivet Joint. HRH Prince Edward was keen to hear of the experiences of air and ground crews supporting UK RJ operations and passed on his thanks and admiration to all.

The 51 Sqn Engineering workforce has recently received over 20 phase 2 graduates from No. 1 School of Technical

Training. Whilst too numerous to mention all, AS1 Emily Cantley is one of those recent additions, and looks set to uphold 51 Sqn’s reputation for supporting elite RAF athletes. During her time at Phase 2 training, she was part of multiple interservice teams, which included 2022 UKAF Inter-service Track and Field Team, where she won a silver medal. Having now moved to a busy operational flying

squadron she is determined to successfully combine her hybrid training with shift work and completing an NVQ. In her short time at 51 Sqn, she has already represented RAF Waddington in powerlifting and gone to represent the RAF

in cross country running and bobsleigh. Looking forward, she hopes to maintain the good sporting reputation of 51 Sqn, by ensuring the station remains a leading contributor to RAF Sporting Associations.

Commonwealth War Graves Cemetary Souda Bay.

The Earl of Wessex and Forfar, HRH Prince Edward visiting 51 Sqn.

Pollington Airfield Memorial Garden-Formerly RAF Snaith.

The Earl of Wessex and Forfar, HRH Prince Edward meeting 51 Sqn Personnel.

you're there for us

(RAF) BROWNIESREMEMBERING OUR PATRON

Queen Elizabeth II was our patron from 1953 until her death on 8 September 2022.

As well as being our patron, she was a Guide, a Ranger and loved guiding. The Queen became a Guide in 1937, aged 11, when she was a princess. A Guide leader called Miss V M Synge was invited to Buckingham Palace where she met Princess Elizabeth, her sister Princess Margaret and 14 of their cousins and friends. Together they started 1st Buckingham Palace Guides. They did everything an ordinary Guide unit would do including hiking, making campfires, learning first aid and going on scavenger hunts.  In 1942, during World War II, the Guide unit moved to Windsor castle. Elizabeth, who was Patrol Leader of Swallows, kept guiding and helping with the war effort. The Queen’s involvement with Guiding didn’t stop there. The International Scout and Guide Folk Dance Festival took place on 13 July 1947 with 200 Guides who had done the Queen’s Guide Award taking part in a march-past on the Mall at Buckingham Palace. The Queen became our patron in 1953 and throughout the next 70 years, Girlguiding was at the Queen's side, mentioning her in the Promise, celebrating her jubilees and remembering her impact on the world.

Here at 1st Waddington (RAF) Brownies we took immense delight in celebrating the Queen’s jubilees over the years. In 2012 to celebrate the Golden Jubilee we wore red, white & blue, made foam crowns and bracelets with the centre piece being

our Girlguiding “diamond” we had received. Weirdly, during lock-down when we were unable to meet face to face, we had a week on zoom celebrating the 1977 Silver Jubilee! This year we spent 2 weeks working on a very special Queen’s Platinum Jubilee badge. The Brownies were challenged to finish the badge at home by completing another 12 royal-themed activities from a list of 70 – everything from waving and wearing a handbag for the day like The Queen, to making crafty corgis, crowns, sceptres, and jubilee fridge magnets. Of course, the biggest impact for both our volunteer leaders and the Brownies themselves is the change to our Promise. We always say our Promise at the start of every meeting and having to change the words from “to serve the Queen and my community” to “the King” felt very strange but we all have lots of wonderful memories of our dear departed Patron.

1st Waddington (RAF) Brownies meets on Monday nights in the Church rooms on camp. We offer a guaranteed place for girls aged 7 to 10 years old arriving at RAF Waddington with their families who wish to transfer in from another Brownie unit or join Girlguiding for the first time. It’s the perfect place for new arrivals to make new friends and help settle into her new home. Contact Jude aka Daffodil at jude.mcalister386@ mod.gov.uk or daffodil@ 1stwaddingtonbrownies.uk

publication please contact Jayne on 01536 334219 or email jayne@lancemediagroup.co.uk

Advertise

1 ISR Wing Awards Evening 2022

On Thurs 6th Oct, 1 ISR Wing Entertainments Committee organised the Wing’s Awards Evening at The DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel in Lincoln.

As all great events do, the evening began with arrivals drinks and the chance for all ranks to mingle, before we went through for our delicious 3-course meal. Before the final course, some of the edited name cards which had discretely made their way to the top table were read by the President, Flt Lt Jonathan Evans – which led to much hilarity and allowed us to get to know one another on a much more… personal level! The meal was concluded by Mr Vice, LH Craig Rowan, with port toasts a plenty!

There was a brief from OC 1 ISR Wing, Wing Commander Neil Sefton, giving an overview of what each Squadron had achieved over the last year and their respective successes, before looking forward to what the upcoming year had in store for us all.

Our Wing Warrant Officer, WO Anthony Chivers, then began the awards ceremony, highlighting individuals whose performances had stood out to their colleagues and listing the nominees. The previous 2021 winners then revealed the winners and delivered their winning citation. Wg Cdr Sefton then presented the deserving winner their trophy.

A special mention to those who received awards on the evening:

1 ISR Wg Charities Award –AS1 Rachel Cathro

Operational innovation

Award – Cpl Ben Bishop

Operational Support

Award – Cpl Sam Turner

Rakesh Chauhan Award for Excellence in Leadership – Cpl Jonathan Davies

Balley Trophy for Junior rank of the year – AS1

Nathan Ridley

The Phillip Carter Trophy –Sgt Colin Delderfield

To even be nominated for such an award is a huge achievement, so we would like to extend our congratulations to those nominated, as well as the winners.

Personnel travelled from all unit locations to attend the evening, providing a great opportunity for the busy Wing to finally get together again. All in all, there were approximately 120 wing personnel in attendance and a great time was had by all!

On behalf of the 1 ISR Wing Entertainments Committee, I would like to wish WO Chivers the best of luck as he is sadly leaving the RAF after 30 years of dedicated service and beginning an exciting new chapter of his life, working with Inzpire. We look forward to welcoming our new Wing Warrant Officer, WO Jacqueline Garland, and are excited for what the future holds.

We look forward to seeing you all at our next Awards Evening in 2023!

Cpl Harriet van Houben Secretary,

1

ISR Wing Entertainments Committee

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local, proudly independent, veterinary practice opened in Waddington in 2022. Register and book online via our website, follow us on Facebook, call us or pop in to see us. Sarah, Alice and their friendly team look forward to welcoming you and your pets!

Operation Christmas 2022

Last Christmas, the RAF Benevolent Fund’s ongoing work to reach out to the RAF Family, in particular to address the loneliness experienced by some of the more isolated veterans, kindly offered to donate up to £500 per Station in support of Christmas Hampers or Lunches for RAF Veterans within the local community.

Continuing the popular theme from the previous year, it was decided to go ahead with hampers for veterans who would greatly benefit from a little Christmas cheer amid these challenging times.

We reached out to Parish Councils, RAFBF, RAFA and various veterans charities asking for names of those who would benefit from a hamper this year, the response as before, was almost overwhelming.

Vulcans. We spent a couple of hours with him as he regaled us with stories of his long and distinguished career and he was extremely grateful for the hamper and the visit. The RAFBF continue to assist him where they can.

A total of 20 Hampers were purchased, containing goodies such as mince pies, Christmas puds, cakes and biscuits. The area covered was wide and vast, from as far afield as the Norfolk border, the Wolds and North Lincolnshire, the race was on to get them delivered across the county to veterans by Christmas. The hampers hopefully went a little way to bringing some joy and happiness at Christmas

David, started his RAF journey as a Wireless Operator and then re-mustered to spend a further 25 years as a Survival Equipment Fitter serving on

Each and every one had a great story to tell. I was looking forward to meeting Sylvia again who had just celebrated her 100th birthday. She worked in a munitions factory in WW2 and always greeted us with a Christmas card. Beryl, like so many, was a widower who lives by herself. Her husband was a supplier in the RAF for many years.

From WW2 veterans to present day leavers, whether medically discharged or time served, the RAF Benevolent Fund is there for all who need a little extra help. A visit is sometimes all that is required and a small gift at Christmas to those who have sacrificed so much goes along way.

Sending a little Christmas cheer was priceless…

Last Year’s Christmas delivery and all other Veteran activities could not have been done

without an amazing team of volunteers:

Flt Lt Marcus Burton SAC Ryan McDonough

LAC Annie Cornes SAC Hadassah Gesage

FS Andy Lloyd OIC RAF Waddington Veterans

MALCOLM’S STORY: “WHY I AM LEAVING A GIFT IN MY WILL”

“Lincs & Notts Air Ambulance is extremely important to agricultural workers; the helicopter a welcome sight as it appears like a yellow knight in shining armour flying across the fields to help a farmer in distress. This is why I am leaving them a gift in my Will.”

Lincoln-born Malcolm Haywood comes from a farming family, and over the years Mike can recall many instances of farmworkers being injured in agricultural accidents and needing the support of LNAA.

He says: “One time, a farmer friend got caught in a potato machine. But the Air Ambulance got there just in time, treated him at the farm and transported him to hospital. It could have been such a different outcome had they not been there.”

Malcolm worked as an aerial crop sprayer operating across the Boston fenlands. His knowledge of the industry spurred him to write a book, entitled ‘Under the Wire’, it is dedicated to the crop spraying operators of yesteryear. Profits from sales have raised over £2,000 for LNAA.

Malcolm says: “Me and my wife want to know our money will make a difference to someone. LNAA is vital to our rural communities, and the work it does means a lot to us because we have been involved in aviation and farming all our lives. What better cause to leave a legacy to, than to something so worthwhile that is on your doorstep.”

“Nearly a third of LNAA work is funded by people who have left a gift in their Will and in the last year alone, donations of this kind have paid for over 400 life-saving missions. By remembering Lincs & Notts Air Ambulance in your Will, you will be helping to ensure that they can be there for critically ill and injured people when they are needed most.

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