RAF News 8 April, Edition 1533

The Forcesit' e favourer pap

Competition

Music

The Rock's early years Win!

Sense Peake Space

l See R'n'R p3

l See R'n'R pp4-5

Friday April 8 2022 No. 1533 70p

––

Veteran Crasher's tribute to old pal

l Pages 16-17

Jack, 100, honours Africa aviation charity co-founder Awards

UKAF title for Maflin

Cold front

l See page 27

Football

The ladies do it again

e r u t u f s e y e R A T IS n o i s s i m c i t c r A O T NA

l See page 31

Football

Inters joy

l See page 32

ARCTIC DRILL: Royal Navy submarine at the Lyngen Fjord in northern Norway, where UK Forces are taking part in NATO exercises

THE UK’S latest surveillance aircraft will spearhead Nato operations in the Arctic to combat Russia’s military expansion in the region.

The Poseidon P-8 subhunter and E-7 Wedgetail, due to arrive in 2024, will be at the vanguard of Alliance exercises and operations in the North Atlantic.

Announcing a new Arctic strategy, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said: “The High North will always be the UK’s home beat. It is vital that we strengthen our force integration with Nato and non-Nato partners.” l See p3 for report

Royal Air Force News Friday, April 8, 2022 P2

“

“

In this age of warfare, robust aviation capability is a core component of our Armed Forces”

I never thought I’d have the privilege of collaborating with astronauts”

Defence Select Committee chairman Tobias Ellwood See page 9

Composer Ilan Eshkeri on his Space Station Earth album and live show See R’n’R p5

“

I said we would win the Inters way back in September”

Outgoing coach Chf Tech Jim Bryden as RAF Ladies lift the IS trophy again See p31

UK Space Command marks anniversary Simon Mander

RAF News Room 68 Lancaster Building HQ Air Command High Wycombe Buckinghamshire HP14 4UE Editor: Simon Williams Email: editor@rafnews.co.uk Features Editor: Tracey Allen Email: tracey.allen@rafnews.co.uk News Editor: Simon Mander

PERSONNEL AT RAF Fylingdales and the UK Space Operations Centre have tracked more ballistic missiles in the last six weeks than in the whole of the previous year after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The news comes as UK Space Command marks its first anniversary and reaches initial operating capability as a military command.

The past 12 months have seen the centre collaborate closely with the UK Space Agency on incidents including the re-entry of a Chinese Long March-5B rocket in May 2021 and the Russian anti-satellite missile test in November 2021.

Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Sir Mike Wigston, said: “We are all dependent on space. It is fundamental to our security and to our way of life.”

Over the past year, UK Space

SKY-EYE: Space Ops Centre Inset, devastating Russian missile attack on the outskirts of Kyiv

This Week In History

Sports Editor: Daniel Abrahams Email: sports@rafnews.co.uk Tel: 07966 429755

1967

Hercules debut

THE HERCULES transporter enters service with 36 Sqn at RAF Colerne before transferring to RAF Lyneham.

All advertising: Edwin Rodrigues Tel: 07482 571535 Email: edwin.rodrigues@ rafnews.co.uk Subscriptions and distribution: RAF News Subscriptions c/o Intermedia, Unit 6 The Enterprise Centre, Kelvin Lane, Crawley RH10 9PE Tel: 01293 312191 Email: rafnewssubs@ subscriptionhelpline.co.uk

Command has taken charge of RAF Fylingdales in North Yorkshire and the UK Space Operations Centre at RAF High Wycombe.

In future, UK Space Command will control all of Defence’s space capabilities, including SKYNET satellite communications and the ISTARI programme.

Air Vice-Marshal Paul Godfrey, Commander of UK Space Command, said: “We will continue to develop our workforce and capabilities to ensure the UK and our Allies continue to have access to space and the services derived from it.”

The Command works closely with several Allied nations in the Combined Space Operations Initiative, Five Eyes, Nato and other bilateral relationships, to collectively promote the free, responsible and sustainable use of space.

1937

Jet age FLT LT Frank Whittle tests the first gas turbine engine which is fitted with a single-stage centrifugal compressor.

1993

Tornado Bosnia mission TORNADOS LAUNCH operations from Gioia del Colle in Southern Italy to enforce the UN’s no-fly zone over Bosnia Herzegovina.

Extracts from The Royal Air Force Day By Day by Air Cdre Graham Pitchfork (The History Press)

Royal Air Force News Friday, April 8, 2022 P3

NATO update

News

Arctic role ISTAR targeting NATO’s cold front

POSEIDON

WEDGETAIL

COLD WAR: The snow-covered deck of HMS Prince of Wales carrier, currently on NATO exercises off the coast of Norway

Simon Mander LIGHTNING FIGHTER jets and the RAF’s ISTAR surveillance fleet are to play key roles in Britain’s new defence strategy in the Arctic.

Under the plan Typhoons and Rivet Joint aircraft will continue to support Nato’s air policing operations from Iceland as the UK seeks to counter Russian military expansion in the region.

As more sea ice melts, Moscow has increasingly militarised its Arctic territory by reopening Cold War-era bases and investing heavily in infrastructure and equipment to help its forces operate, Defence chiefs say.

Under the UK’s first Arctic strategy, the

RAF’s nine new Poseidon P-8A Maritime pressed into service. Space technologies Patrol Aircraft will be expected to are also to be exploited under a £970 periodically deploy and exercise million investment which could see ISR in the area alongside allies such technology launched from the UK and as Norway, Iceland and the British Overseas Territories.

USA. The plan seeks to protect critical They will be backed up underwater national

by F-35s based in Denmark, infrastructure and ensure Finland, Norway and the US and freedom of navigation aboard HMS Queen Elizabeth through international and HMS Prince of Wales, as seas and exclusive part of a periodic Royal Navy economic zones in the presence in the High North.

Arctic region.

The Air Force’s three new Defence Secretary E-7 Wedgetail aircraft and Ben Wallace unveiled the Protector RG Mk1, the strategy after which enters service meeting some of the in 2024, will also be 35,000 troops from 28 Ben Wallace STRATEGY:

Atlas delivers on Estonia mission Simon Mander A POSEIDON sub hunter and Atlas transporter have been deployed to bolster security in the Baltic region.

A RAF Lossiemouth-based P-8 joined a fleet of fighter jets from six Joint Expeditionary Force nations escorting ships delivering military vehicles and equipment to the UKled Nato Battlegroup in Estonia.

Meanwhile an Atlas transporter completed a nine-hour round trip mission from Brize Norton to air drop supplies to British troops training in the eastern European state.

Taking off from Brize the Atlas crew flew more than 1,000 miles to Nurmsi drop zone in Estonia,

where they dropped six bundles of stores to soldiers on Exercise Dirt Track.

Aircraft captain Flt Lt JJ Jackson of 30 Sqn said: “It is an incredibly exciting time to be part of the team charged to deliver the tactical capabilities of Atlas on operations; I am hugely excited about the opportunities that await as we enhance the scope and scale of such activities.”

Officer Commanding 30 Sqn, Wg Cdr Stu Patton, said: “The delivery of long-range resupply by frontline crews is a major milestone for Atlas.

“I am particularly proud that 30 Sqn – the world’s first aerial delivery squadron – has been able to reopen its account in support of

this Exercise.”

HMS Northumberland and sister ship HMS Richmond joined Danish frigate HDMS Niels Juel and warships from Sweden, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania for maritime patrols in the region.

UK Standing Joint Force Commander Major General Jim Morris said: “Given the current level of aggression being displayed

by Russia there has never been a more important time to ensure that freedom of navigation is maintained in the Baltic Sea.” The JEF is a UK-led force of 10 nations complementing Nato by focusing on security in the Baltic Sea region, the High North and the North Atlantic, where its members are located.

nations taking part in the Norwegian-led Exercise Cold Response.

Six Royal Navy ships led by the carrier HMS Prince of Wales – which is acting as a Nato command platform – are taking part.

Around 2,000 UK personnel are carrying out cold-weather training following preparations made by 900 Royal Marines who have been deployed to the Arctic since January.

Mr Wallace said: “The High North and the impact of climate change affects us all, whether we like it or not. The North Atlantic will always be the UK’s ‘home beat’ and so it is vital that we strengthen both our interoperability and our force integration with Nato and non-Nato partners in the region.”

HEAVY LIFT: Atlas A400M supplying British troops deployed on training exercise in Estonia PHOTO: CPL WILL DRUMMEE

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Royal Air Force News Friday, April 8, 2022 P5

News

The Professionals Simon Mander THE RAF is to introduce new professions to shake up its system of trades and branches set up more than 50 years ago.

It says the old structure, devised in the 1950s, stifled flexibility by tying people to specific roles throughout their careers whereas new areas of expertise will allow those with transferable skills to go where they are needed.

A total of 68 trades and branches are to be turned into 11 Professions

by April 2025.

Air chiefs say it will remove the divisive model of officers going to branches and other ranks into trades so that the Aircrew profession will include non-commissioned personnel.

Some of the professions, including Chaplaincy, and Medical Services are already defined within the RAF’s existing structure.

Others will take on other specialisms with meteorologists moving to Air and Space Ops, Logistics incorporating musicians, and People Ops including media reserves.

And a new Security and Resilience Ops profession will bring together RAF Gunners, Police and Physical Training Instructors.

The Service says the move is not a cost-cutting exercise but about making its employment model fit for the ‘Next Generation RAF’ employment model.

It says the move will not affect pay scales which are not reviewed until 2026 by which time the professions will be established.

Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Sir Mike Wigston said:

Chiefs launch biggest shake-up of Service branches and trades for more than half a century

CAREER UPDATE: The switch to a streamlined list of professions reflects modern workplace practice, air chiefs say

“The RAF’s move from Branches and Trades to Professions is a key step in our Astra journey to the Next Generation Air Force.

“I am pleased that the first five professions, Aircrew, Chaplaincy, Legal, Medical Services and People

Ops, have substantially met the conditions to go live.

“These are the first of our 11 professions to make that step, with the remainder to follow over the next three years.

“Our workforce of the future must

be agile and adaptable, innovative, and multi-skilled to meet whatever challenges we and our successors might face.

“This change will unleash our collective potential, and we all have a part to play.”

T2 secures service deal Staff Reporter

GUNNERS STAGED a rescue mission by fast roping from a 33 Sqn Puma to showcase their combat skills during Marham’s formal annual station inspection.

Fast-roping and rappelling techniques are used where a conventional landing is not possible, minimising the threat to the helicopter and crew.

DEFENCE IS investing £695 million to provide in-service support to the RAF’s fleet of Hawk T2 jets.

The deal covers the maintenance of Valley’s 28 aircraft that provide fast jet training for future F-35B Lightning and Typhoon pilots and the T1s flown by the Red Arrows.

Two separate contracts have been signed by Defence Equipment and Support, one with BAE Systems worth £590m to cover all T2 airframes and a second, separate, £105m deal with Rolls-Royce for engine support.

Defence Procurement Minister, Jeremy Quin, said: “This contract will provide aircraft support to maintain the delivery of pilot training and the Red Arrows long into the future.”

The agreement secures more than 500 jobs at BAE and its

DEFENCE CONTRACT: BAE and Roll Royce will support the RAF’s fleet of Hawk T2 fast jet trainers and Red Arrows Hawk T1 aircraft, (pictured top.)

maintenance partner Babcock International mainly based at the Anglesey station.

DE&S Director Combat Air

Vice Marshal Simon Ellard added: “Through this investment, we will continue to train our student pilots to become the best in the business.”

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Royal Air Force News Friday, April 8, 2022 P7

News

Black Hawks down Distinctive jets bearing infamous skull and crossbones vanish from British skies as historic 100 Sqn takes a bow Simon Mander

BLACK HAWK jets emblazoned with the skull and crossbones bade a fitting farewell to one of the RAF’s most historic units.

The motif, first used by 100 Sqn when it was a night bomber unit on the Western Front in 1917, was displayed for possibly the last time as the squadron closed its hangar doors at Leeming.

Family, friends and veterans gathered to watch the Squadron Standard paraded, accompanied by the Band of the RAF College.

Some of the Squadron’s Hawk aircraft will now transfer to the Red Arrows, who took part in a flypast.

Officer Commanding 100 Sqn, Wg Cdr Ted Taylor-Head, said: “We had to make sure we said goodbye to 105 years in the best way possible and honoured the history of the squadron.

“It’s about the people who came

before us and the people here now, who make the squadron. There have been more than 25 years with the Hawk T1 – our job day in, day out has been training for the frontline.”

The squadron was the last to land from a combat mission before the Armistice was signed in 1918 and endured being decimated by Japanese forces in 1942, only to rise again by the end of the same year.

It was home to the celebrated ‘Phantom of the Ruhr’ Lancaster bomber, the iconic Canberra and its distinctive black jets have been a familiar sight over North Yorkshire for more than two decades, putting frontline fighters through their paces by acting in an aggressor role.

Leeming Station Commander Gp Capt Gareth Prendergast said: “It’s a bittersweet day – it’s always sad to see a squadron disband but it has been amazing to see the guys perform on parade.”

n motif CHILLING: Sq

HISTORIC: Members of 100 Sqn take part in disbandment ceremony. Inset left, AVM Ian Duguid inspects the parade PHOTOS CPL ALEX SCOTT

Duo go with the bro Lynn Dunne RAF Leeming

See p19 DOUBLE ACT: Paul and Nigel Wharmby both flew Harriers during the Balkans conflict and both ejected, earning them the shared nickname ‘Wam’ PHOTOS: SAC HARRY ROBERTS

TWO FAST JET pilot brothers took to the skies together for the last time to mark the disbandment of one of the RAF’s most historic squadrons.

Harrier veterans Flight Lieutenants Nigel and Paul Wharmby – who earlier in their careers ejected within months of each other – took part in one of the Leeming outfit’s final sorties, providing ‘aggressor’ aircraft for air combat training.

Nigel, 62, said: “We’ve flown together a lot – we did the Balkans at the same time. But this is the last time we’ll fly together, so it’s special.

I think we remember every sortie we’ve flown together, but this one’s especially poignant because it’s our last one.”

Younger brother Paul added: “It’s really such a privilege to do it. And we both sacrifice quite a lot to keep flying because it’s worth it.”

The pair have shared the ‘Wam’ nickname during military careers

SIGNING OFF: Nigel and Paul prepare for final flight in the 100 Sqn Hawk T1

spanning more than four decades and two bail outs.

Paul escaped with minor injuries and was presented with a gold watch as the 1,000th RAF ejection.

Nigel wasn’t so lucky – suffering a devastating back break and a prediction that he would never walk again.

Defying the odds, Nigel returned to flying fitness

and achieved the rank of Air Commodore before deciding that seniority was taking him away from what he really loved – being in a cockpit – so he left the Regulars and signed back on as a Reservist Flight Lieutenant.

Nigel said: “I just loving flying.

It’s the exhilaration of the job and the fact that every day is different.

“You could be doing a low level through the lakes fighting helicopters, then off doing air combat against Typhoon for a second sortie, and an F-35 the third.

“The Hawk T1 jet is a delight to fly. It’s very much a modern-day Spitfire in that it goes where you point it – you can feel the airplane when you’re flying it.

“It’s very forgiving and it’s also very robust.

“There aren’t many aeroplanes I can think of that are in any service that entered service in 1974. It’s just fantastic.

“I still haven’t quite come to terms with the fact that I won’t be doing this anymore.”

MARK T MARK THE HE A ANNIVERSARY N N I V ERS A RY O OF FO ONE NE O OF FT THE HE R RAF’S A F’ S MOST MILES M O ST DARING DA R I N G OPERATIONS O P ER AT I O N S BY

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Royal Air Force News Friday, April 8, 2022 P9

News In Brief

IN THE BAG: RAF AFCO team hit Pudsey cemetery for clean-up operation

Clean sweep for jobs team A FORCES careers office team have launched a clean-up operation at their local cemetery near Leeds.

The AFCO volunteers transformed the area in Pudsey, which includes 47 Commmonwealth War Graves dating back to WWI and WWII, as part of a conservation project set up by council chiefs.

VIP VISIT: Former Cambridgeshire Chief Constable Julie Spence at Wittering

Top cop keeps Wittering date A FORMER police chief and Cambridgeshire Lord-Lieutenant paid a visit to Wittering this month.

Julie Spence was given a VIP tour of her local RAF base by Station Commander Wg Cdr Jez Case.

He said: “We have a wide range of military capabilities at this station that enable UK Air Power around the world.”

Parliament orders air power probe as Russia threat rises Simon Mander A HOUSE of Commons committee has launched an inquiry into plans to reduce the RAF’s combat air fleet, in the wake of Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.

MPs will examine the reasoning behind the early retirement of Tranche 1 Typhoons and the current commitments to buy additional F-35B fighters as part of their investigation.

Chair of the Defence Select Committee Tobias Ellwood said: “We are standing at a critical juncture in our history. War is raging in Europe and investment in Defence procurement is now more important than ever.

“This inquiry will assess our aviation capabilities and ask whether we are future-proofing our fleet.

“The early retirement of some aircraft raises the possibility of gaps in our capability in the years ahead and there is continued uncertainty around the MOD’s intention to purchase additional F-35B Lightning fighter jets. We look forward to exploring these issues in our inquiry.

“In this age of warfare, robust aviation capability is a core component of our Armed Forces and is essential to our readiness to respond to threats. The RAF is the world’s oldest independent air force and has, over the last century, played a crucial role in protecting and defending the UK.” A second, follow-on inquiry will examine proposals for future capabilities, including the Tempest Future Combat Air System and a

II RETIRING: Puma

FRONTLINE CAPABILITY: Air transport workhorse Hercules C-130J, due to retire from service later this year

new medium-lift helicopter. current security situation in The Committee is Europe. seeking written Parliamentarians will evidence on whether look at the rationale the Integrated behind the early Review and Defence retirement of the Command Paper C-130J Hercules, can deliver the fixed and removal wing and rotary of Puma and aviation capabilities older Chinook D needed in the helicopters from TOBIAS ELLWOO

UK ramps up weapons supply to Ukraine Staff Reporter THE UK is to deliver thousands more missiles to Ukraine as Russian forces intensify attacks of key cities.

Britain will supply 6,000 more missiles, including anti-tank and high explosive weapons, and £25 million in financial backing for the battling Ukrainian military.

The move comes on top of the £400 million the UK has committed in humanitarian and economic aid for the crisis.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced the latest package of lethal aid at an emergency summit

meeting of Nato and G7 leaders.

He said: “Vladimir Putin is already failing in Ukraine.

“The Ukrainian people have shown themselves to be extraordinarily brave and tenacious in defending their homeland, in the face of an unprovoked onslaught.

“But we cannot and will not stand by while Russia grinds Ukraine’s towns and cities into dust.

“The United Kingdom will work with our allies to step up military and economic support to Ukraine, strengthening their defences as they turn the tide in this fight.

Tempest DEVELOPMENT:

“One month into this crisis, the international community faces a choice.

“We can keep the flame of freedom alive in Ukraine, or risk it being snuffed out across Europe and the world.”

The UK has already provided more than 4,000 anti-tank weapons to Ukraine’s armed forces, including anti-tank weapons systems and Javelin missiles.

The Government is also supplying Starstreak high-velocity anti-air missiles to help Ukrainians defend themselves against aerial bombings, as well as body armour, helmets and boots.

service. etail ARRIVING: Wedg They will also assess ISTAR capability, the early retirement of the E-3D Sentry and the cut in the number of E–7A Wedgetails from five to three and the current capacity of the Military Flying Training System.

The Committee is asking for online submissions to be submitted through its web portal by May 6.

PLEDGE: Boris Johnson, pictured at an earlier meeting of the Joint Expeditionary Force, with Ukrainian President Zelensky via video link

Royal R oya al Air F Force orce N News ews Fr Friday, iday, A April pril 8, 2022 P10

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Royal Air Force News Friday, April 8, 2022 P13

s e v i w s e Forc r i e h t e mak k r a m ) e l (Te

News

SNOW GO: Military wives braved Arctic conditions and injury during the expedition; above, actors Richard Harris and Kirk Douglas in the WWII movie The Heroes of Telemark

A GROUP of military wives has become the first all-female team to recreate the iconic wartime mission immortalised

by Kirk Douglas and Richard Harris in the classic film The Heroes of Telemark.

The 12-strong expedition retraced steps made by real-life resistance fighters who travelled across Norway’s harsh Hardangervidda Plateau during their four-month battle to sabotage Hitler’s plans to build an atomic bomb.

Enduring temperatures ranging from zero to –10˚C while skiing 5-10

hours every day the trip took them to three original World War II shelters, where they collected snow for water and firewood for ration pack dinners.

When one of the team broke her elbow, she walked the entire route in snowshoes with her arm in plaster.

Ailsa Snaith, whose RAF husband is deployed in Saudi Arabia, said: “I am taking away so many amazing memories and profound gratitude to the real Heroes of Telemark for their fortitude, skills and resilience.”

Falklands refit for Black Buck icon

A VULCAN bomber that took part in the Black Buck missions is to be repainted in its combat colours to mark the 40th anniversary year of the Falklands War. The airframe of XM607, which was removed as Waddington’s gate guardian in July 2021, is being stripped down to assess its condition before being restored.

An RAF spokesman said: “A full paint strip of the aircraft has begun and is progressing at significant pace.

“The underlying structures have been masked by several layers of paint but appear to be in a great condition given their many years of exposure to the elements.

“The next stage will be to conduct repairs to ensure the aircraft remains structurally sound for many years to come.

“A full repaint is then planned, in the original Black Buck paint scheme, to fully restore XM607 to its former glory.”

The V-bomber was delivered in 1963 and served on 35, 44, 9 and 101 Squadrons at Coningsby, Cottesmore and Waddington.

She ended her flying career back with 44 Sqn in the daring raids against Argentine forces holding Stanley airfield in the 1982 conflict.

MAKEOVER: Waddington’s Vulcan gate guardian is being refurbished to mark the 40th anniversary of the Falklands conflict; right, a member of the JARTS team strips off old paintwork ahead of restoration work PHOTOS: SAC JAMES SKERRETT

“The aspiration is to complete the job in the anniversary year.

There are funding and logistics hurdles to overcome, but the progress is extremely satisfying,” the spokesman said.

In Brief

UK steps up Ukraine aid Staff Reporter

“XM607 is of vital historic importance to the RAF, and it has been critical to ensure that this inspirational aircraft is preserved, not only for the Vulcan community, but to inspire future generations.”

Restoration team members have been carrying out the work in addition to their normal duties overcoming the logistical challenges of working on a busy operational airbase and in unpredictable weather.

BRITAIN HAS so far airlifted more than 3.7 million items of medical supplies to Ukraine in response to the Russian invasion.

Vital medicines, wound packs, and intensive care equipment have been flown to the region over the past three weeks from RAF Brize Norton, Stansted and Heathrow.

The latest flight – the 11th so far – carried more than 100,000 packs of medicine, representing more than 1.5 million doses, including strong painkillers to treat those injured by Russian attacks.

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said: “The UK is playing a leading role in providing humanitarian aid, from medicines to shelter and expertise on the ground.

“We are working with the government of Ukraine to ensure we help those who need it most.”

Royal Air Force News Friday, April 8, 2022 P15

News

Wills and Kate join eco jet set

In Brief

WESTMINSTER CEREMONY: Members of the Armed Forces hold medals belonging to Dame Vera Lynn (below) at Westminster

Forces tribute to Dame Vera

THE DUKE and Duchess of Cambridge flew into the Caribbean on board the RAF’s specially adapted VIP Voyager powered by green bio-fuel.

The Royal couple were met by ecstatic crowds during the week-long tour of Belize, Jamaica and The Bahamas to mark The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.

Voyager ‘Vespina’ runs on eco-friendly fuel which can cut carbon emissions by up to 80 per cent.

FORCES’ SWEETHEART Dame Vera Lynn was remembered at a service of thanksgiving at Westminster Abbey.

Military personnel joined figures from the entertainments industry including Katherine Jenkins, Alan Titchmarsh, Esther Rantzen and Floella Benjamin to pay tribute to the wartime singer and entertainer famous for boosting the morale of frontline troops.

Dame Vera died in June 2020 at the age of 103.

UK team lifts Sigonella surveillance Staff Reporter

AWARD: Former RAF Nurse Tina Graham received the British Empire Medal

Vets champ Tina Empire honour A FORMER Air Force nurse has been presented with the British Empire Medal for clocking up more than 36 years supporting British veterans and serving personnel.

Cyprus-based Tina Graham was presented with the award by the Mediterranean island’s British High Commissioner, Stephen Lillie, for her work for the charity SSAFA. She said: “I am incredibly proud. It’s all the more meaningful because it’s taken place in the Platinum Jubilee year of Her Majesty The Queen, our Monarch and SSAFA’s Patron.”

A TEAM of RAF intelligence specialists are supporting Nato forces in Sicily as the Alliance steps up airborne intelligencegathering capability from Sigonella air base.

The UK is to increase the number of personnel deployed alongside a multi-national Ground Surveillance Force. Currently the unit has 350 personnel from 27 nations, operating five unmanned Northrup Gruman-built Global Hawk aircraft.

Operating in the shadow of Sicily’s active Mount Etna volcano, the new capability provides continuous wide area surveillance coverage of ground moving vehicles, and synthetic aperture radar coverage.

Deputy Chief of Staff, Wg Cdr Mike Formby, said: “We can take data from elsewhere and fuse it with the data we collect to produce complex intelligence products. Any Nato nation can access the data that this unit produces.

“Sicily is an interesting place to live and work. It’s overshadowed by Etna and you do see how it affects life around here.

“Occasionally it drops ash in the vicinity, which can disrupt flying operations.”

NATO ROLE: Wg Cdr Formby and the unmanned Global Hawk platform based at Sigonella air base, with Mount Etna in the background

Royal Air Force News Friday, April 8, 2022 P16

Feature

Mission Aviation Fellowship

Crasher Jack’s c Gemini man, 100, takes to the skies again to honour air Good Samaritan group co-founder

AVIATION PIONEERS: MAF founders RAF veterans Stuart King

R OLD ‘PAL’: Jack with MAF’s second aircraft, a Dragon Rapide

AF VETERAN ‘Crasher’ Jack Hemmings took to the skies in a vintage aircraft in memory of a man who founded the world’s largest humanitarian air service.

The 100-year-old took the controls of a Miles Gemini – the same model he and Stuart King flew across Central Africa in 1948 before starting the Mission Aviation Fellowship to bring vital aid to the most remote communities on the planet.

The former RAF Squadron Leader – who won the Air Force Cross flying Hudson and Dakota aircraft with 353 Squadron during World War II – took off from Old Warden airfield on the Shuttleworth estate in Bedfordshire on what would have been his friend’s 100th birthday.

Shortly after landing, Jack said: “It was wonderful to be back in a Miles Gemini after 74 years.

“I love flying because I have a feeling of detachment from all the problems in the world – and there are a lot of problems.

Seeing aircraft being used as weapons of war – as we did as young RAF airmen – reminds me of MAF’s initial purpose: to use aeroplanes to bring peace and hope to needy places.”

Operating from just one base in Sudan in 1947, today the Fellowship provides flights for more than 1,500 aid agencies and every four minutes one of its aircraft takes off or lands in one of the 26 developing countries in which it operates.

Jack – who performed aerobatics in a

Slingsby Firefly at White Waltham airfield on his own 100th birthday – returned to the cockpit to pay public tribute to D-Day veteran and 247 Squadron Engineering Officer Stuart, who died in August 2020, aged 98.

He said: “One cannot count the number of people whose lives have been enriched by his services.

“I don’t recall ever looking forward during that first Gemini flight – perhaps we could have imagined half a dozen aircraft in Africa. Today, MAF has 123 aircraft around the world.

“I think MAF is like the international Good Samaritan of the air. If anyone needs transporting out of difficulty, or needs urgent medical help, MAF is there.”

Royal Air Force News Friday, April 8, 2022 P17

by Simon Mander

comeback AFRICAN ADVENTURE: Charity chief s Stuar

t King (left) and Jack Hemmings

ng (left) and Jack Hemmings in 2019

CRASH LANDING: Hemming and King’s Miles Gemini, the Mildmay Pathfinder, clipped a banana tree during 1948 tour

g their SURVEY: The pair with tribesmen durin

STAR ATTRACTION: The MAF men

J

ack’s first Gemini flight was in 1947, when both men flew a 30-stage tour of the UK to rally support, before taking off from Croydon on a 3,000-mile flight to Nairobi.

Their survey, using only a map and compass, was the first British mission to assess the humanitarian needs of isolated communities dotted across Kenya, Uganda, Sudan, Ethiopia, Rwanda, and the Belgian Congo.

In his 1993 book Hope Has Wings, Stuart wrote: “In Sudan, there were vast areas where there were no real roads at all, and what tracks existed were impassable for months at a time.

There were places where people were out of range of medical help and died for lack of it.”

During their epic sortie, the duo travelled more than 10,000km visiting more than 100 remote outposts but nearly never came back.

On one occasion, their trusty Gemini was climbing slowly through the rising valleys of Burundi’s foothills, struggling to reach an altitude of 8,500 feet to clear the mountains ahead with a strong headwind dragging them down when the aircraft hit a banana tree on its descent.

The incident earned Jack the nickname ‘Crasher Jack’, still affectionately used by family and friends to this day.

He said: “Everywhere we landed was somewhere new to us, and a lot of locals would never have seen an aircraft in the air – let alone in their village. We were met with total bewilderment. But we explored whether we could help local missions by clearing airstrips or building hospitals in areas almost completely cut off.”

In his book Stuart said: “We had no

navigational aids, our maps showed us nothing. We knew that if we got lost over the vast desert, we would be lost indeed. A sheet of sandpaper would make as accurate a map as the charts we carried on that first survey!”

T

he Shuttleworth Collection is home to some of the world’s oldest flying aircraft including a de Havilland Rapide – which both men flew in Sudan during the 1950s.

Jack said: “Stuart was a great friend, a man of vision, devoted to MAF since the early days in 1947. Pioneering in Africa wasn’t a question of hope, we just went out and did it!

If Stuart were here today, I would simply say to him ‘Stuart – you done good’.”

For his aid work Stuart King was made a Chevalier in the Ordre National de la Légion

1948 flight across several countries in

Central Africa

and their aircraft attracted a crowd wher ever they landed

d’Honneur by the French Government and won the Award of Honour from the Honourable Company of Air Pilots.

After the 1948 flight Jack remained closely affiliated with MAF but began a successful career in accountancy. He returned to flying in 1982 and won the Dungeness to Le Touquet air-race in 1985, and still holds the Lydd to Le Touquet air speed record.

The Shuttleworth Collection is home to the world’s oldest flying aeroplane – the Bleriot XI from 1909 – and was established

by Dorothy Shuttleworth in memory of her son, Richard, who was killed in 1940 whilst on an RAF training flight. l Jack is raising money in Stuart’s memory via justgiving.com/fundraising/ jackhemmings100

Who stood out from the crowd?

Do you work with someone who deserves recognition?

Nominate them for an IET Armed Forces Technician Award.

Nominations close 16 May 2022 theiet.org/techawards

The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) is registered as a Charity in England and Wales (No. 211014) and Scotland (No. SC038698).

The Institution of Engineering and Technology, Michael Faraday House, Six Hills Way, Stevenage, Hertfordshire SG1 2AY, United Kingdom.

Royal Air Force News Friday, April 8, 2022 P19

100 Squadron

TON UP

A

FTER 105 years service 100 Squadron, nicknamed The Ton, has closed its hangar doors for the last time at RAF Leeming.

The unit put up a six-ship formation of its famous black Hawks for the salute and was joined in flypasts by a Typhoon and the Red Arrows.

Since September 21, 1995 its jets have soared above North Yorkshire playing the ‘aggressor’ role, engaging combat aircraft or helicopters at low level forcing them to practise defensive tactics.

The concept originated with the US Navy’s ‘Top Gun’ facility made famous in the eponymous Tom Cruise film. At the time, only France had a similar outfit and The Ton’s services were in great demand with detachments to Norway, Sweden and Hungary.

The role has now been taken over by Draken, operating from Durham-Tees Valley airport using ex-Czech Air Force Aero L-159A ALCAs. But The Ton’s story predates the establishment of the RAF itself and for most of that time its bomber crews were the hunted rather than the hunter.

Formed at South Farnborough, Hampshire, on February 23, 1917 with the FE2b, it pioneered night bombing, attacking the home of Baron von Richthofen’s Flying Circus before targeting Germany with the Handley Page 0/400

Feature

pped with FE2 night bomber, left,

THE EARLY YEARS: 100 Sqn equi

and Vickers Vildebeest

The disbandment of 100 Squadron at Leeming ends an illustrious chapter in RAF history, says Mick Brittain

SOLEMN: Stand down ceremony at Leeming

(known as the Bloody Paralyser), one of which was the last aircraft home before the Armistice was declared.

The main legacy of World War I was the squadron’s distinctive skull and crossbones badge – an emblem on a flag purloined from a French brothel.

In Malaya, the squadron, with its antiquated Vickers Vildebeest torpedo bomber, was wiped out when the Japanese invaded in 1942, and only a handful of personnel escaped to Australia via Java, an event immortalised in its motto ‘Sarang Tebuan Jangan Dijolok,’ Do Not Stir Up A Hornets’ Nest.

Reformed at Waltham, near Grimsby, as part of 5 Group, it was equipped with Lancasters for the bombing offensive against Nazi Germany.

After the war it moved to Scampton, where it transitioned to the Lincoln and returned to Malaya to fight Communist insurgents on Operation Musgrave.

The Jet Age in 1954 saw 100 Sqn convert to the English Electric Canberra B.2 and relocate to Wittering, near Stamford, adorning its aircraft with a blue and yellow chequerboard taken from the

CANBERRA TARGET: 100 Sqn at West Raynham and, inset, Hawk from above

colours on the town’s coat of arms.

In 1956 it split when a Reconnaissance Flight was detached to Wyton to operate Canberra PR.7s on Operation Grapple – the hydrogen bomb tests in the Pacific.

After reuniting, disbanding, then reforming again at Wittering in 1962, the unit joined the V-Force, equipped with the Handley Page Victor B2 and, despite winning the Command Bombing Competition in 1967, was disbanded again with the transfer

of the UK’s Nuclear Deterrent to the Royal Navy.

After a three-year interval, The Ton was resurrected at West Raynham, Norfolk, with the Canberra but in a new role, providing targets for fighter squadrons.

A short move to Marham brought a merger with 85 Squadron making The Ton one of the largest squadrons in the RAF. A return to Wyton took place in 1982 and it was here, a decade later, that the squadron received the BAe Hawk T.1A, before a move to Finningley then, on its closure, to Leeming.

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Advancing training through technology What you need to know Set to reunite the simulation and training community under one roof and super-charge its members, the International Training Technology Exhibition & Conference (IT2EC) returns this year. Analysing emerging trends, this conference is the key forum where stakeholders from military, government, industry and academia come together to share knowledge and insights about training, simulation and education.

The three-day exhibition will take place at ExCeL, London in 26-28 April 2022, and promises to be the meeting point of the brightest minds of the European training and simulation world. Providing the ideal networking platform, show organisers expect to welcome more than 75 exhibitors and 2,000 attendees representing over 45 nations.

Exploring evolving technologies The event will be led by an overarching theme which will focus on evolving technologies for training and education data and explores modelling and algorithms. Under this theme, the show’s conference will investigate the notion of Digital Twins, the risks of AI and the applications of Machine Learning for training. This will include topics such as “Train, Reflect, Learn and Train Again” and the Reality-Simulation-Reality cycle which have become fundamental enablers for robust training systems.

This year’s exciting agenda includes discussions about augmented reality prototypes, simulator-based military training and education, the role of commercial gaming in training multidomain leaders, data visualisation, and

digital twins. The show will welcome UK and international panellists from organisations such as the US Naval Air Warfare Center Training Systems Division, Finnish Defence Forces and the Joint Warfare Centre of Qatar.

NATO will also have a strong presence at the show, as the organisation aims to explore new avenues in military training.

A key discussion includes a panel on Wednesday 27th April featuring Lars Jansson, Project Engineer, FMV; and Captain Peter Lindskog, Developer of Simulation Systems for Military Training, Swedish Armed Forces, who will discuss Exercise VIKING 22: Leveraging MSaaS Technology and Process. RAF Wing Commander, Ruari Henderson-Begg, and Dr Robert Siegfried, Chair of the NATO Modelling and Simulation Group, will also join forces on Thursday 28th April to discuss Distributed Synthetic Training: Roadmap towards a Future NATO Capability.

What can visitors expect to see on site?

IT2EC 2022 visitors will find exciting features on site which aim to explore ambitious new solutions that could reshape the future of training and military and civil domains. These include, a new Technology Lounge and the return of the Disruptive Technology Theatre (DisTec), where exhibitors will host live demos of wearable tech, AI/Machine Learning, Robotics and 5G networking. The lounge is entirely free-of-charge and will give visitors a hands-on experience of real-life applications, such as arson investigation, firefighter training and armed police response.

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IT2EC’s bustling show floor will host leading training and simulation organisations of all sizes. The long list of exhibitors includes; Lockheed Martin who unveiled a new training simulator in November 2021 for the F-35 joint strike fighter, as well as SAAB who is set to deliver a number of live tactical engagement simulation training systems to multiple international partners, such as Poland and the Netherlands.

Reflection on the immense value that SMEs bring to the industry, IT2EC will also welcome a range of small and medium innovative companies and offer a dedicated platform for them to showcase their advances in simulation technology.

Examples include professional-grade VR/XR hardware and software specialist, Varjo, who recently introduced a new Aero Headset to the market, and SimCentric who has expanded the capabilities of its SAF-FORESIGHT live range planning system with additional risk assessment, analysis and safety intervention tools to support live-fire collective training.

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Royal Air Force News Friday, April 8, 2022 P21

Graduations

The prize winners L AC LENN

L AC MCL

ON

A R EN

L AC GUN

T ER

L AC SMIT

L AC CURT

CPL WALK

H

IS

ER

ON PARADE: Air Cdre Harper reviews the troops, also below right

Newest Gunners joining the Force FORCE PROTECTION has 32 new members after the graduation of the latest recruits at RAF Honington.

The new graduates from Trainee Gunner Course 4-21, Salalah Flight, were joined by friends and family to mark the occasion.

Reviewing Officer was Air Commodore Simon Harper, Assistant Chief of Staff Training.

The new Gunners are now posted to either 1 Squadron RAF Regt (RAF Honington), 2 Sqn RAF Regt (Brize Norton), 15 Sqn RAF Regt (Marham), 34 Sqn RAF Regt (Leeming) 51 Sqn RAF Regt (Lossiemouth) or the Queen’s Colour Squadron (63 Sqn RAF Regt, Northolt).

Further congratulations go to the Prize Winners (panel left): l Frank Sylvester Trophy: LAC Lennon – best all-round Trainee. l The RAF Regt Association Trophy for Drill and Deportment: LAC McLaren. l WO Ramsey Physical Development Cup: LAC Gunter. l LAC Beard Recruits’ Trophy: LAC Smith, voted for by the trainees themselves. l SAC Luders Champion Shot Trophy: LAC Curtis. l Cpl Bradfield Trophy: Cpl PROUD: Families Walker, best Corporal Instructor.

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Royal Air Force News Friday, April 8, 2022 P23

Flt Lt Esmond Farfan DFC Obituary

DFC: Flt Lt Farfan, third from left, with 12 Sqn crew

DFC 12 Sqn Lanc pilot dies aged 99

F

LIGHT LIEUTENANT Esmond Farfan, who has died aged 99, left his native Trinidad to fly Lancasters with Bomber Command, which earned him a DFC. One of nine children, Esmond Knox Farfan was born in Montserrat on October 11, 1922. His ancestors, the Spanish Farfan de Los Godos family, first arrived in Trinidad in 1640, where they settled.

In June 1941, as a cadet pilot, he joined the sixth and penultimate course of the Trinidad Air Training Scheme run by the Trinidad and Tobago Flying Club, where he completed 50 hours of elementary flying training.

After successfully completing the course, he sailed for England and joined the RAF in September 1941. He continued his training as a pilot before heading for Canada, where he graduated as a sergeant pilot on December 4, 1942.

Back in England he trained as a bomber pilot and joined 12 Squadron in March 1944.

On the night of March 30/31, the Lancaster crews of 12 Squadron were surprised to see that their target was the German city of Nuremburg. For the newly-commissioned Farfan and his crew, it was their fourth operation. The bomber force would normally have been stood down because of the full moon conditions, but the raid on the distant target was planned on the basis of a weather forecast for a protective high cloud on the outward route with clear conditions over

the target. In the event, the cloud failed to materialise providing ideal conditions for the German night-fighter force.

As Farfan dropped his bombs, a German night-fighter ranged alongside his Lancaster.

He put the bomber in a dive as his gunners opened fire and the Messerschmitt veered away, probably damaged. The raid resulted in the loss of 96 bombers and their crews, Bomber Command’s heaviest of the war. Farfan later described it as: ‘One fateful moonlit night.’

E

arly April saw the beginning of the preparations for the D-Day landings in June. Bomber Command was tasked to attack railway targets to isolate German forces in Normandy and the Pas de Calais regions and prevent reinforcements arriving by rail.

Ammunition dumps and military camps were also attacked and, as the date of the invasion approached, coastal gun batteries and radar sites were bombed.

Farfan was one of four West Indian pilots on 12 Squadron and they formed a close friendship. On the night of May 3, they were all on the battle order when the target was the main German tank repair and maintenance depot at Mailly-le-Camp, east of Paris. The control of this raid in the target area failed due to radio problems and many of the Lancasters had to orbit, where they fell prey to the German night-fighters.

Farfan was flying in the second wave, where the casualties were high. Although the

depot was badly damaged, 42 bombers were lost, more than 11 per cent of the force. 12 Squadron lost four crews but Farfan’s West Indian colleagues survived after some intense battles over the target.

On June 4, Farfan bombed the heavy gun battery at Sangatte near Calais and the following night, ahead of the Allied amphibious and airborne assaults, the target was the coastal gun emplacement at St Martin Varreville, overlooking Utah beach where the US amphibious landings were to take place.

By the end of the month, the first V-1 flying bombs had started to land on London and attacks against the launch sites in the Pas de Calais region became a priority.

Farfan attacked a number including the huge underground support site at Marquise Mimoyecques. In addition, operations in support of the 2nd Army held up at Caen were flown until July 23, when Bomber Command returned to Germany. The target was the important naval base at Kiel, and the first major raid on a German city for two months.

The following night the target was Stuttgart. Farfan had just three more operations to complete his tour of 30. He had recently lost his three West Indian friends and years later he wrote: ‘My thoughts were my own. I seemed to hold on to my equanimity as most of us would do.’

He encountered heavy anti-aircraft fire and there were numerous combats with German night fighters. Four days later he

returned to Stuttgart when he came under heavy enemy fire and when three Lancasters from his base were lost.

Farfan and his crew successfully completed their 30th operation on July 30. As they approached to land, over the radio they heard the applause of the control tower personnel.

Shortly afterwards he was awarded the DFC. In later years, he commented: ‘To complete a bomber tour, a crew required skill; but more than skill, they needed luck.’

A

fter completing his tour on 12 Squadron, he became a pilot instructor on Lancasters. After six months he transferred to the Mosquito before joining 627 Squadron at Woodhall Spa near Lincoln.

He was discharged from the RAF in September 1946 when he returned to Trinidad where he immediately joined British West Indian Airways (BWIA), the third Trinidadian, his elder brother, a former Spitfire pilot, being the first. He eventually became the airline’s senior training captain on the Boeing 707 and retired after 33 years’ service.

In 2005 he made an emotional visit to France to stand by the graves of his three West Indian colleagues who died whilst serving with him on 12 Squadron. A compassionate man, he also visited the small French towns that had been targets, and he was deeply moved to learn of the scale of losses amongst the civilian population.

Royal Air Force News Friday, April 8, 2022 P24

Feature

Military history

Celebrating aviation’s pioneering women pilots

1902: Rose Spencer (here with husband Stanley and their daughter) becomes the first woman to fly a powered air machine

I

N 1785 ACTRESS Letitia Sage became the first British woman to take to the air, when she flew in a flimsy, unstable balloon over London.

Since then, many women have gone on to become pioneers in aviation and Sally Smith tells their fascinating stories in her book Magnificent Women And Flying Machines (thehistorypress. co.uk).

The author said: “Amazingly, there is no proper record of many of these women. With lives full of excitement, adventure and bravery, these are stories that needed to be told, so I decided to make a start by concentrating on the women who had achieved real firsts in their area of aviation.”

In 1902 Rose Spencer was the first woman in the world to fly a powered air machine. Smith said: “She had no family background in aviation and the fact that she took off, did several circuits at height and then landed successfully is quite remarkable.”

She was pregnant at the time. Her husband Stanley was a member of the Spencer ballooning family – his grandfather Edward flew balloons

ATA GIRL: Pauline Gower (here, left, with Dorothy Spincer) got the aircraft delivery body to accept women into its ranks

First ladies as far back as 1836, Stanley’s father Charles, a gliding pioneer and leading balloon enthusiast, established the innovative balloonmanufacturing workshop C.G. Spence & Sons in London and Stanley’s uncles and four brothers all became heavily involved with ballooning.

In July 1902, above Crystal Palace, Rose took the controls of an airship Stanley had developed.

Those watching were said to have included Sherlock Holmes creator Arthur Conan Doyle and

ATA GIRLS: The women pilots soon proved themselves to be skilled, brave and adaptable

the famous cricketer W. G. Grace.

Reports said Rose was in the air for almost half an hour.

Eight years later Lilian Bland made history as the first British woman to design and build a viable aeroplane. Her aircraft, the Mayfly, made its maiden flight, with Lilian piloting, in August 1910.

T

he book devotes a whole chapter to the aviator Amy Johnson, who joined the Air Transport Auxiliary in World War II, the civilian organisation that took over the task from Service pilots of ferrying RAF and Royal Navy warplanes between factories, maintenance units and frontline squadrons. Johnson made history and became world famous after she flew solo from the UK to Australia in May 1930.

Smith explained: “Amy wasn’t even a natural pilot. After she started flying in September 1928 she didn’t go solo until the following June. But underneath her bubbly personality, her attractive looks and friendly girl-next-door character there was a quiet, steely determination and a fierce doggedness.”

She disappeared in 1941 while delivering a plane for the ATA. It was believed her aircraft crashed into the Thames Estuary but her

AMY JOHNSON: Went missing whilst delivering an aircraft for the ATA in 1941

body was never found and, as a member of the ATA with no known grave, she was commemorated by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission on the Air Forces Memorial at Runnymede.

S

mith said: “By the late 1930s all the key breakthrough firsts for women in aviation had been achieved; but more opportunities were opening up, especially with the new types of aircraft that were arriving on the scene. But it was the advent of the Second World War

that offered an opportunity for the next really big steps for British women in aviation.

“Those opportunities might not have arisen if it had not been for the ground-breaking efforts of Pauline Gower. She had been one of the outstanding female pilots in the 1930s and, when war was declared in 1939, she felt there was a role for women. The RAF was very resistant to female pilots, so Pauline turned her attention to trying to get them accepted in the newly-formed Air Transport Auxiliary.”

Smith added: “By 1944 there were 166 women pilots of many nationalities in the ATA, or the Anything to Anywhere as they sometimes called it. They were gradually becoming famous for their success in quickly adapting to new aircraft and flying through all conditions without radios to get the job done. The extraordinary exploits and achievements of the women pilots in the ATA confirmed without doubt that women had a rightful place in the air.”

The book also focuses on former ATA member Diana Barnato Walker, the first British woman to fly through the sound barrier, in 1963, and Helen Sharman, Britain’s first ever woman in space, in 1991.

Smith said: “When Letitia Sage finally got off the ground in 1785, little could she have imagined the events that would be taking place 200 years later.”

THE MAYFLY: Painting depicts Lillian Bland, who designed and flew her own aircraft in 1910

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Royal Air Force News Friday, April 8, 2022 P26

Motoring

Toyota RAV4 Black Edition Hybrid

o t s e o g 4 V A R e d i s k r the da

DARK LORD: Darth Vader

RAV4 Black Edition Pros l Immensely cheap to run l Holds its value well l Built like a brick privvy DARTH VADER called… He wants his face back.

This is Toyota’s new RAV4, Black Edition. Looking at its angular design, you’d be forgiven for thinking it’s been built as a film prop, possibly the Empire’s new weapon of choice. Instead, it is an incredibly popular mainstream model, the fifth generation of Toyota’s funky midsized 4x4.

The RAV4 now sports a longer wheelbase, so it’s bigger, and yet it’s actually smaller. Wait, what?

That paradox is possible because the wheels have been pushed further into the corners, while the overall length of the car has been reduced. It can therefore compete directly in the mid-sized family crossover market but with greater stability and more interior space.

Externally it’s boxy, with a distinctive lower body kit and angular wheel arches. Its design is particularly eye-catching and, even if it doesn’t strike you as menacing, you can’t help being intrigued.

Toyota has recently developed quite a passion for sci-fi design. A

TIM MORRIS Motoring Correspondent few editions ago we marvelled at how much the CH-R resembled Kryten, a Mechanoid from the cult TV comedy Red Dwarf.

Now here we are again with the Darthmobile. That’s no bad thing. In a world where small 4x4s are a common trend, the RAV4 makes a statement.

Interior The RAV4 looks spacious inside. Passengers have plenty of room to spread out, front and back. Most of the materials on the upper surfaces look smart and feel relatively plush, which gives it the edge over its main rival, the Honda CR-V. Its switchgear is slick and the controls feel particularly rugged, which is exactly what you’d expect from a hardy off-roader.

There’s also a good sprinkling of cast-aluminium effect dotted around to add contrast.

The part-leather front seats

provide impressive comfort on a long run. In our car they were heated and cooled, with electric adjustment. This isn’t standard on all models but can be ordered as an upgrade. One slightly disappointing point was that the Black Edition didn’t come with a memory recall function, so you had to reset the seat manually every time.

The 8in touchscreen infotainment system is positioned high on the dashboard, so you don’t have to go looking for it, and the JBL audio kit that it incorporates provides brilliant sound quality. Both come as standard on the Black Edition. The system could perhaps be more intuitive and the graphics could be sharper but it does what it says on the tin.

On the road The RAV4 is a brilliant cruiser, hushed on a motorway and in stop-start traffic when

it automatically switches to electric. Even when Toyota’s all-new 2.5-litre petrol engine fires up however it’s still a fairly refined affair, that is until you give it some welly. The whole RAV4 range in the UK is now hybrid based, combined with an electric CVT gearbox. You’ll always therefore get that feeling of a massively slipping clutch until the speed catches up when you accelerate with any enthusiasm.

That said, the figures aren’t bad for a car that dwarfs the likes of the Nissan Qashqai.

Overall power output is 219bhp, providing 0–62mph in 8.1 seconds, a top end of 112mph and combined fuel consumption of 47.9mpg.

It also feels relatively nimble for such a large SUV. Of course, it still rolls a bit when you throw it into bends but it’s nothing you wouldn’t expect from a 4x4.

Cons l Over revs due to CVT gearbox l Some rivals better to drive l No seven-seat option Verdict The RAV4 is no slouch and it’s a brilliant bit of kit for the family. There’s plenty of room inside and it’s a comfortable environment for long distance running. It’s pretty capable offroad too, so it lives up to its 4x4 image. Other crossovers may be more fun to drive but, when it comes to fuel saving and all that sensible stuff, it takes some beating.

The ground clearance isn’t bad for off-road use. A ‘trail mode’ button in the centre console engages a specific ESP strategy. In this mode the electrics deliver surprising grip and the supple suspension makes tackling difficult terrain a comfortable experience. The steering column paddles even provide additional engine braking downhill so it might just get you around that medium Green Lane route you’ve always wanted to try. It can also tow a 1,650kg braked trailer if that sort of thing matters to you.

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Sport

SPORTS AWARDS

Maflin UKAF award honour

WINNERS: Maflin accepts award from Dame Katherine

Jon's Sportsman of Year

RAF MARTIAL arts ace Flt Lt Jonathon Maflin was at it again picking up his second Sportsman of the Year title, this time at the UKAF awards.

The gala event, held at the RAF Club in London’s Piccadilly, saw Maflin complete the clean sweep, having already netted his Service’s top award at Halton last November.

Maflin’s career in the sport has seen him win the Asian, Pan Pacific, British, Irish, Spanish, German and Czech Republic championships, three European Championship silver medals and nine Inter-Services.

In December 2019 he achieved his lifelong ambition in the sport, to become a World Champion.

Winning four fights in a row, he captured the NAGA World Light Heavyweight Jiu Jitsu title in Dallas, Texas.

He said: “I felt very honoured to receive the UKAF award from fivetime Olympian Dame Katherine Grainger. Being an award that it’s only possible to be nominated for once in your career, it does feel very special, and to win ahead of such worthy nominees from the Army and Navy is very pleasing.”

The event, hosted by Forces TV sports presenter John Knighton, saw other RAF Nominations, but sportswoman of the year nominee Cpl Shona Brownlee, just back from the Beijing Paralympics, did not repeat her 2021 RAF Awards win.

Dame Katherine, Chair of UK Sport, said: “All nominees of these fabulous awards should not underestimate their importance and the values they create and instil in others – sport is continuous and, like our military personnel,

WAKEBOARD

TOP MAN: Maflin in action

NOMINEES: (from left) Cpl Shona Brownlee, Sgt Kevin Saunby and WO Daz Rose with Dame Katherine

it continues to improve with each generation.”

Referee development officer Sgt Kevin Saunby was nominated for

UKAF men’s volleyball, who were also nominated in the team category, were represented by Flt Lt Mark Mallinson.

A new awakening Daniel Abrahams

HIGH-ADRENALINE: Service wakeboarders in stunning action

sports official of the year, while WO Daz Rose represented the RAF Sea Anglers, who were up for the team of the year.

PHOTOS: CPL VICK GOODALL

SERVICE WAKEBOARD is coming back with a bang in 2022 as the association gears up for a year to remember for newcomers and old stagers alike.

A packed diary, kicking off with a beginners’ event next month, is designed to raise the profile of the high-speed, high-adrenaline sport and swell its ranks after the pandemic.

That’s the hope of the RAF Waterski and Wakeboard Association (RAFWWA) and festival project officer Cpl Daniel Wilkinson, who spoke with RAF News about the season ahead.

He said: “This summer promises to be something special, we have lots of events in the pipeline, it’s just such an exciting time to show off our sport, and to help it grow.

“April 11 is our grassroots day at Xtreme Wake at Grendon Lakes, Northamptonshire, then from May 16-20 is the Wakeboard Festival, which is our biggest event of the year, followed by the RAF championships on June 13-17 at Queensford Lakes in Oxfordshire.”

He added: “The festival will see 50 personnel from the UK and Cyprus compete at Box End Park, Kempston, Bedfordshire.

“Throughout the week boarders can ride behind the beginners’ boat to develop confidence, skills and ability, before progressing to our competition standard boat.

“In addition to the boats, there will be cable wakeboarding, which features the thrill of jumping off ramps and rails.”

All bases have been covered with dry land training available too, for personnel who have never

tied a board to their feet, while all equipment is provided by the association.

Wilkinson added: “Wakeboarding is one of the most enjoyable, physically challenging and fastest growing water sports in the world. Our association encompasses boat, cable, waterski slalom, jump and trick ski disciplines, and our membership offers the opportunity for not only gaining new qualifications, in coaching, driving, health and safety skills, but plans are in the pipeline to rekindle the overseas tours, which have seen us visit Turkey France, Spain, USA and Thailand in the past.”

For full contact details visit the association’s social media pages: Facebook.com/groups/RAFWWA or Instagram: @rafwakegirls and raf_waterski_and_wakeboarding.

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Royal Air Force News Friday, April 8, 2022 P29

@rafnewssport

Email: sports@rafnews.co.uk RUGBY UNION

RAF Scotland rugby booms “WE ARE hoping to find our niche in the RAF rugby union set-up,” said Wg Cdr Dougie Potter speaking to RAF News about the 2022 Tri-Services Scotland tournament.

In only its second year the event, launched in 2019 but halted due to Covid, has seen the team known as RAF Scotland grow from having barely enough players to field a squad, to one boosting 50 members, with a new kit and some impressive coaches and advisors on hand.

The freshly-won Calcutta Cup from Scotland’s 20-17 Six Nations win over England will be pitchside for the weekend of action on May 26.

Potter said: “We set ourselves the target of growing year upon year, and during our opening year we had a venue, the Oriam Performance Centre in Edinburgh, and just about enough players.

When we suffered an injury withdrawal our kit man had to come on, so that’s where we were.”

The event sees Army, Royal Navy and RAF play 40-minute matches against each other at the venue, used by Edinburgh Rugby and Hearts football club as a training base.

Potter added: “Since then we have seen our ranks swell, but we are hoping Edinburgh Rugby defence coach Kitty [Calum] MacRae can assist our head coach, Flt Lt Keith Dickinson, if his time allows, and we also hope to have Scottish Ladies star Sarah Bonar to pass on her expertise.

“These moves further strengthen our links with Scotland Rugby Union and raise the profile of our team.”

RAF Scotland has also had an overseas tour offer from the Maltese Rugby Union Association.

Potter added: “We are excited about this year’s event, the plan is to have primary school sides plays between the matches, organised by Currie Chieftains (Mini) RFC, so it will be a full day of fun and action and for which the RAF Benevolent Fund has donated goodie bags for all the teams.”

The first match kicks off at 12.30pm on May 26 at The Oriam Centre, Heriot Watt University.

RUGBY UNION

Outgunned in IS RAF Army

20 35

A TOUGH 20-35 loss for the RAF provided an action-packed IS opener for the neutral but leaves the men in light blue facing an uphill struggle in the championship.

On paper the scoreline makes for chastening reading, but a RAF side featuring 13 debut IS caps battled hard throughout and have set a great platform for future success, under the guidance of head coach FS Justin Coleman.

Having lost their last encounter, known as Le Crunch, to the Armée De L’Air 28-20 in Guy Boniface Stadium, Bordeaux, the RAF struggled to get up to speed early on. The Army found a way through their lines after seven minutes through a penalty score, which was repeated five minutes later for 6-0.

Having weathered the early storm Cpl Luke Riddell saw a kick struggle in the Gloucester wind at Kingsholm Stadium, but the RAF’s scrum was looking dominant, and SAC(T) Ryan Crowley nearly scored in the corner just after.

At 21 minutes the Army extended its lead to 13-0, and a brilliant turnover from SAC(T) Isaac Norton provided some relief for his team’s defence, before Bath RFC star L/Cpl Semesa Rokoduguni touched down for what looked like

Battling start but Army take the honours

HAND-OFF: Cpl Jedd Evans protects the ball

an excellent score, but was ruled out for obstruction.

On the half hour Riddell sent over a penalty, to reduce the deficit, and he repeated the act with four minutes of the half left. This time he opted for the corner, where Crowley finally touched down after some fine work for 13-8. Strong carries from Cpl Sam Breeze, Cpl Jedd Evans, Cpl Kieran Forbes and

SAC(T) Isaac Norton began to lift the RAF. The Army’s lead was extended again just on the whistle for 18-8 though, a score that was added to just after the break.

SAC Kev Raqio replaced SAC(T) James Roberts at hooker on 46 minutes to earn his first cap and within minutes showed his immense strength when he cut a

great line to smash his way over for 13-25 after 48 minutes.

The Army then led 13-32, before the RAF set up a grandstand last 20 minutes as Cpl Jedd Evans scored, with Riddell converting for 20-32.

A penalty was the only addition to the scoreboard as the RAF just could not find the line despite some excellent play late on.

Championship slips away for Ladies

Weightlifting AN ARTICLE about RAF Weightlifting in our March 25 edition inadvertently included a Twitter handle for RAF Powerlifting, a different sport.

Apologies for the mistake.

RAF Weightlifting is on Instagram: @RAF_weight_lifting

Sport

QUICK BALL: Flt Lt Lucy Nye feeds the ball out for the RAF

PHOTOS: NEIL KENNEDY

THERE WAS to be no repeat for the RAF Ladies Senior Rugby Union team as they succumbed to the Army 24-10 in the InterServices opener in Gloucester.

The Kingsholm ground of Gloucester RFC was the site of the team’s historic IS triumph and first win over the Army in 2019. This time out, the team held its own in phases but could not pull back the early Army lead in a great opening championship match.

RAF forwards coach Sqn Ldr Ian Cokayne said: “In terms of effort, we couldn’t ask any more from the players.

“When we played to our strengths and got the ball wide, we scored two great tries; and we got a foothold in the game.

“However, we weren’t able to recreate the opportunities that gave us this success. A lot of credit must go to the Army, who executed their game plan well.

“We will dust ourselves off and hopefully right some wrongs

RAF Ladies Army

10 24

against the Navy at Ealing in a couple of weeks.”

The Army piled on the pressure straight from the off, finally breaking through the RAF lines in the 10th minute for an unconverted try.

The light blue team lost No 5, Flt Lt Emma Tadman, after 20 minutes and the Army extended their lead with a converted try five minutes later.

Just after the break the RAF pulled a score back as Flt Lt Nicole Burger touched down, and the unconverted score was repeated with a Cpl Kirsty O’Brien try after 56 minutes to bring the score to 12-10.

The RAF battled hard, but could not find another score as the Army chipped away, adding an unconverted try after 59 minutes and the final try in the 74th minute to win.

Would you like to see your sport featured in RAF News? Send a short report (max 300 words) & two or three photographs (attached jpegs) to: Sports@rafnews.co.uk

Royal Air Force News Friday, April 8, 2022 P30

Sport

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Email: sports@rafnews.co.uk

Cheers to the Triple crown BOXING

Daniel Abrahams A NIGHT of shared pride saw the Service’s boxers produce three UKAF champions at RAF Halton.

AC Blaine Lambert (light welterweight), SAC Brad Axe (middleweight) and SAC Emyr Parry (cruiserweight) won their bouts on an evening that saw the RAF enter its biggest card of fighters to the event for more than 25 years.

Axe said: “I’m absolutely over the moon to be the 75kg UKAF champion. I’ve put so much into this, so to win against such a good opponent is massive.

“I want to keep this momentum going into the England Boxing National Championships.”

Axe had confidently predicted the Service would win the championships during an interview with Forces net radio before the evening, and they came mighty close with a draw.

The night kicked off with an all-RAF bout as SAC Stevie Porter (Leeming) and Cpl Craig BaxterLeggett (Halton) starred in a light heavyweight fight, which Porter won on unanimous points.

The first title bouts saw slick southpaw Pte Lewis Harvey (Army) triumph over Cpl James Thompson (RAF Waddington) in a lightweight

THE AXE MAN COMETH: SAC Brad Axe (right) bobs and weaves on his way to UKAF middleweight title

Three RAF fighters take titles in UKAF elite championship clash.

AC Lambert then put on a masterful display over Pte Connor Somerville (Army) to win by split decision on points.

Welterweight Pte Jordan Shaw (Army) then beat SAC Taylor Andrews (Leeming), before Axe put on a dominant display over Rfn Leon Harris to seize the title belt that narrowly evaded him in 2019.

PHOTOS: LUKA WAYCOTT

Parry then stormed to a commanding win over LCpl Josh Plummer (Army) by way of unanimous decision. Despite Parry dominating the early rounds, Plummer was able to drag the victor into deep and bruising waters for a thrilling exchange to close out the bout.

Sqn Ldr Karl Whalley, Chairman of the UKAF Boxing Association, said: “While it is an absolute privilege to be the UKAF Chairman, it was with great pride that I witnessed the young amateur side of the RAF hold the full-time British Army team to a draw in the recent Services Elite Championship Finals Night.”

TOP TEAM: UKAF Boxing chief Sqn Ldr Karl Whalley (centre) with RAF fighters

BEST MAN WON: SAC Brad Axe has his arm lifted aloft by the ref after defeating Rfn Leon Harris

I'M CRUISING: SAC Emyr Parry (left) had a convincing win over LCpl Josh Plummer in the Cruiserweight division

Would you like to see your sport featured in RAF News? Send a short report (max 300 words) & two or three photographs (attached jpegs) to: Sports@rafnews.co.uk

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Sport

Ladies do it again FOOTBALL

Two stunning strikes see women retain Inter-Services title CAT THAT GOT THE CREAM: Sgt Cat Beaver lifts the IS trophy aloft

BRYDEN: Coach is leaving the Service

The coach bows out on a high THE RAF Ladies Representative Team produced fireworks in front of goal in their second 2-0 win of the Inter-Services football championship to seal the title.

Cpl Philippa Wilson started things off with a stunning headed opener after 10 minutes against the Army at Aldershot, then SAC Bethan Jewitt followed up with the goal of the tournament, capping off two exhilarating performances.

Following the win, delighted head coach Chf Tech Jim Bryden said: “I am so proud of the team. They bought into all the things we introduced and worked together throughout.

“All our goals came from things we had worked on. I felt tonight we were solid and dominated the second half.”

Wilson had lit up the opening clash with a

Army

0

RAF LRT

2

stunning turn and volley to make it 2-0 against the Navy, and this time her clever break into the box saw her touch home an angled cross to the near post.

The RAF went close again through Cpl Rachel Griffiths, before Cpl Hannah Hale pulled off a brilliant one-handed save to keep a long-range Army effort out, after 15 minutes.

Bryden added: “The whole season was built on how we play, we would not adapt the team to our opposition, we just altered slightly keeping to our plans and our style.

“We had been working on our finishing and

the two tonight were top class. It was fabulous to see things go from practice to product.”

That work was exemplified by Jewitt’s stunning strike. With captain Sgt Cat Beaver blazing over in the 53rd minute, Jewitt then stepped up to curl in a shot from the angle of the box, from 30 yards into the far corner, to put the icing on the cake for her and her team.

Bryden said: “Bethan’s goal was lovely to see.

She was also celebrating good news about her father who had been ill and was watching the game live. She got a chance to do a celebration dance to mark that and the goal itself, which was great.”

He added: “I said we would win the IS way back in September, I had total confidence then and we did it our way, all the way.”

Wilson wonder goal sets the tone for champs THINGS STARTED in style for the LRT with a solid 2-0 win over the Royal Navy in the opening Inter-Services match at RAF Cosford.

Defending their IS title – won in 2019, the last time the tournament was played – and also competing on the night for the Lynsey Miller Trophy, the RAF started brightly.

Cpl Mollie Lambert nearly found the net early on, with only a superb Navy header away denying an obvious goal.

Continued pressure saw the hosts finally open the scoring, and when they did it was from a terrific piece of control and then strike from Fg Off Jeorgia Carr early in the first half. Carr, having slipped her marker, controlled Cpl Philippa Wilson’s great cross on the angle of the 12-yard area, before firing home sweetly.

RAF LRT

2

Royal Navy

0

Having set up one goal, Wilson then turned scorer, with a strike that will be remembered for years to come.

With her back to goal in the closing stages of the second half, she collected a ball into the box, closely shadowed by two Navy defenders, turned and volleyed home from 25 yards.

In between the goals, host keeper Fg Off Hannah Hale produced a stunning save to deny the visitors just after the break, while Sgt Zara McIntosh wasted a gilt-edged chance to extend the light blues’ lead when, one-on-one with the Navy keeper, her shot was comfortably saved.

ON THE ATTACK: Action from the RAF v Navy Inter-Services opener

BOASTING EIGHT wins from 12 games, LRT head coach Chf Tech Jim Bryden bows out as one of the team’s most successful managers of all time.

With the two 2-0 InterServices wins under his belt, Bryden’s short term – he took charge in April 2020 – saw his charges score an average of 2 or 3 goals a game, losing only three matches with one drawn.

He said: “I took charge two years ago, sadly we lost a lot of time due to Covid, but I feel I’ve made up for that and the team have been fabulous throughout.

“Knowing I was leaving after the last IS game meant the final whistle came with a mixture of delight and sadness.”

Bryden, who is leaving the Service for a full-time post in the sport he loves, added: “It was amazing to end on a high, but sad. I got the team to where I wanted and have left them in a great position. To secure two 2-0 wins is some statement of intent for now and for the future and I have every faith in them to go on to even more success.

“I believe the team can dominate the Inter-Services; there is some great talent coming through, plus the squad we have is strong.

“Women’s football in the military is strong and our sister services have good teams, but there were players I did not have time to introduce to the set-up who have the requisite skills and application to prove to be a solid addition to the RAF squad.”

66p ISSN 0035-8614 14 >

9 770035 861037

Royal Air Force News Friday, April 8, 2022 R'n'R 1

Win!

Win: The Rock's family comedy on DVD l p3

R'n'R

Look who's talking – Paul Zerdin l p4-5

Announcements

l P6-7

Puzzles

l P8

Royal Air Force News Friday, April 8, 2022 R'n'R 3

R'n'R Film review

Compartment No 6 (15) In cinemas April 8

Behind face of macho Russia

TRAPPED: Laura on train with Ljoha

Student Laura's ordeal on train

L

AURA (SEIDI HAARLA) IS a Finnish archaeology student in Russia living with Irina (Dinara Drukarova), her professor-turnedgirlfriend. When the two of them are about to set off on a long-distance train from Moscow to Murmansk to see some rock drawings, Irina flakes out, leaving Laura to go it alone.

Aboard the designated compartment on the train, she arrives to meet her brutish Russian cellmate Ljoha (Yuriy Borisov), who immediately pulls out a bottle of vodka and unsheathes a portable cup as though it were a knife. In the blink of an eye, he is wildly drunk and so out of control that

Laura fears for her safety. But there’s no swapping carriages according to the icy ticket inspector: she is in it for the long haul.

The confinement of this space is framed and focused in such a way as to create uneasiness and establish a power dynamic, of a predator encircling his prey. Ljoha is muscular and menacing, he has a shaved head and a fixed scowl, though we will glimpse cracks in the facade as we spend more time with him.

Through the relationship between Laura and Ljoha in this claustrophobic space, we are offered an idea of what is going on behind the macho ideal associated with Russian men.

Competition Young Rock (12)

Win!

On Blu-ray and DVD from April 11 (Dazzler Media)

When Rock was a pebble D

WAYNE ‘THE ROCK’ JOHNSON stars in the largerthan-life family comedy Young Rock, based on outrageous stories of his youth.

The coming-of-age journey highlights the unforgettable moments and incredible relationships that took Dwayne from ordinary kid to extraordinary superstar – revealing he’s more like us than we know.

The former professional wrestler has starred in a host of films including the blockbusters Baywatch and Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle as well as Jungle Cruise with Emily Blunt and Fast & Furious 6.

We have copies of Young Rock Season One on DVD up for grabs.

For your chance to win one, simply send us the correct answer to the following question: Before he became an actor, what

IN THE MONEY: Dwayne (Adrian Groulx) with Junkyard Dog (Nate Jackson)

was Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson’s profession?

Email your answer, marked Young Rock DVD competition, to: competitions@rafnews.co.uk or post it to: RAF News, Room 68, Lancaster Building, HQ Air Command, High Wycombe, HP14 4UE, to arrive by April 22.

Borisov is convincingly intimidating as Ljoha, but is able to let a childishness shine through, as Haarla contends with the many worries surrounding her as a true fish out of water. A strange and inviting chemistry is caught between the two of them as they drift further into the unknown.

Filled with tension but relieved with humour, this is an interesting and intimate film. Through the great performances and style of shooting, it explores a shifting vulnerability, adding depth and context to the much-seen archetypes of beauty and beast.

4 roundels out of 5 Review by Sam Cooney

JOURNEY'S END: Pair make it to Murmansk

Byrne one-liners keep flowing

C

OMEDIAN JASON BYRNE has announced his new UK tour, Unblocked, which hits the road this autumn.

The tour will kick off on September 15 at The Stand in Newcastle, following a run at the Edinburgh Festival in August. He will then play a further 30 dates around the UK, before culminating at The Lowry in Salford on November 27.

Byrne, who has had his heart unblocked after surgery in 2021, said: “I’m unblocked and ready to go! My arteries are unblocked, I’ve been unblocked from TikTok and other social media, my brain is flowing at full capacity and I’m finally ready to unleash the full potential that is Jason Byrne.”

His brand of organised chaos and stock-in-trade audience participation has seen him coined “the outright king of live comedy”

by The Times. He is the bigges-t selling comedian at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, where Unblocked will run at the Underbelly, McEwan Hall from August 3 to 28.

Byrne’s career has seen him

UNBLOCKED: Zany Jason had a heart scare

awarded the UK Radio industry’s prestigious Sony Radio Gold Award for his Radio 2 show. He has hosted his own chat show, Jason Byrne’s Snaptastic Show, for TV3 in Ireland and co-presented Wild Things on Sky One. TV appearances include Royal Variety Performance, The Graham Norton Show, Live at the Apollo (BBC One), his own show, Anonymous in

Ireland and John Bishop's Christmas Show (BBC One).

Byrne is also a TV regular in Australia, has appeared on the prestigious Melbourne International Comedy Festival televised galas and The Great Debate as well as Network Ten’s The Project and NZ’s top-rating 7 Days on TV3.

Go to: jasonbyrne.ie for further details.

Royal Air Force News Friday, April 8, 2022 R'n'R 4

R'n'R

You've got to hand i puppet master Zer P

AUL ZERDIN is an entertainer with a difference – the popular puppet master’s show features stand-up comedy and amazing animatronic wizardry, really bringing his puppet co-stars to

SAM'S THE MAN: Paul with one of his most famous creations

life.

He’s just gone back on the road with his Hands Free tour, which took a pause in November while he went on to appear in his usual gig over the festive season – starstudded panto at the London Palladium.

Hands Free continues until May 11 and goes to venues including Lancaster, Coventry, Redditch, Dunstable, Hereford and Guildford.

Zerdin said: “I enjoy touring and performing but not the travelling so much because the roads in this country are absolutely shocking. Doing lots of gigs all over the place, day to day travelling can be horrendous, the motorways get shut at night and you are on a detour for hours in the middle of the night trying to find your way back on the main road.

“But it’s great to be back on stage, especially after the lockdowns when I didn’t do any performing for about five months at the start.

“I was very lucky, I was working at Butlin’s that summer and they took all their shows outside. I also did a lot of writing. When they shut the gyms, I ran every morning outdoors and my brain was bubbling with ideas. I set up a TV show for my YouTube channel, Sponge Weekly, with one of my writing partners, Martin. It was six short episodes, about 12 minutes each – a fast, studio-based sketch show with me and my characters. It was very satisfying to do because I was my own boss.”

For Hands Free, as well as being accompanied by his regular puppet playmates Sam, Baby and Albert, there’s a couple of new characters – Roger the bodyguard, who claims to be ex-CIA, who Paul hasn’t been able to shake off since his America’s Got Talent win, and a really annoying Urban Fox who has been following him around for a while for the ‘snack value.’

A

fter winning America’s Got Talent in 2015, Zerdin had his own show in Las Vegas for six months then toured the US and Canada.

He said: “I performed in some massive casinos, in New York State and Canada, that were in the middle of nowhere and I was given big, burly security guards to look after me.

“It was quite surreal and very amusing. I can remember

MOTLEY CREW: Zerdin with his cast of puppets, including Urban Fox

soaking it all up and thinking ‘one day I’m going to draw on this for material’, which is what I’ve done.

“Roger is paranoid, he thinks that someone in the audience is out to get us and he has to find out who it is before they get to us, so he makes it his job to interrogate the audience as I’m trying to do the show. He’s a fun character and a very different voice from the other characters.”

He added: “The Urban Fox has come on tour because he smelt my sandwiches in my trunk and he gets trapped in there.

“The show uses lots of animatronics, there’s a section where all the puppets are on stage at the same time and I’m voicing them all. They’re being controlled but not by my hand.”

The son of actors, Zerdin revealed that he was ‘quite theatrical’ as a child.

He said: “I wanted to do something that involved showing off so I used to do puppet and magic shows for my mum and dad’s dinner parties. They encouraged me, I

Tate exhibition promises to be Surreal thing fo S

© ADAGP, Paris and DACS, London 2022

URREALISM BEYOND Borders, a ground-breaking exhibition at Tate Modern in London, is now on until August 29, revealing the broad scope of this radical movement.

Based on extensive research undertaken by Tate and The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the exhibition spans 80 years and 50 countries to show how surrealism inspired and united artists around the globe, from centres as diverse as Buenos Aires, Cairo, Lisbon, Mexico City, Prague, Seoul and Tokyo.

A Tate Modern spokesperson explained: “A revolutionary idea sparked in Paris around 1924, Surrealism prioritised the

unconscious and dreams over the familiar and everyday. While it has often generated poetic and even humorous works – from Salvador Dalí’s Lobster Telephone (right) to Time Transfixed (left), René Magritte’s train rushing from a fireplace – it has also been used by artists around the world as a serious weapon in the struggle for political, social, and personal freedom.”

Featuring more than 150 works ranging from painting and photography to sculpture and film, many of which have never been shown in the UK, the exhibition explores the collective interests shared by artists across regions to highlight their interrelated networks.

It also considers the conditions under which they worked and how this in turn impacted Surrealism, including the pursuit of independence from colonialism and displacement caused by international conflict.

Visitors can see iconic paintings such as Max Ernst’s Two Children are Threatened by a Nightingale 1924 alongside lesser known but significant works including Antonio Berni’s Landru in the Hotel, Paris 1932, which appeared in the artist’s first exhibition of surrealist works in Argentina, and Toshiko Okanoue’s Yobi-goe (The Call) 1954, addressing the daily experience of post-war Japan. n Go to: tate.org.uk for more information.

© Salvador Dali, Gala-Salvador Dali Found

Royal Air Force News Friday, April 8, 2022 R'n'R 5

it to rdin think my parents always knew I would do something a bit different.”

When he left school Zerdin went to work in a magic shop in London then started performing close-up magic at evenings and weekends, then gradually phasing out the conjuring and putting ventriloquism in, which he learnt from a book by ventriloquist Ray Alan.

He added: “Even when I did the magic, comedy was the underlying factor.”

He cites the legendary Tommy Cooper as an influence and said his ‘real heroes’ are Jim Henson and Frank Oz, of The Muppets. He’s also a fan of veteran entertainers such as Russ Abbott, Brian Conley and the late Ken Dodd, Bob Monkhouse, Bruce Forsyth and Paul Daniels.

Zerdin said: “I used to sit in the audience of the Paul Daniels show when I was a kid. Not only was he the most amazing magician but he brought the most incredible acts from all around the world – ventriloquists, jugglers. Years later I worked with Paul, he had fantastic stage presence and the command he had over an audience was amazing.

“I got to work with all those people, which was fascinating. I’ve been very lucky, you learn so much when you work with these greats.”

Zerdin will be back at the London Palladium this Christmas with his puppet pals for the panto Jack and the Beanstalk, also starring Dawn French and fellow Palladium pantomime stalwarts Nigel Havers, Gary Wilmot and Julian Clary.

Zerdin said: “Nigel is one of my best friends. On my opening night in the US he heckled me – it was very funny, I expected nothing less from him. We share a dressing room at the Palladium every year, we do have a laugh.”

Interview by Tracey Allen n Go to: paulzerdin.com for tour details.

or visitors

dation/DACS, London 2022

NEW ALBUM: Out soon

FAN: Peake

Space music concert to reach Peake perfection B

RITISH ASTRONAUT Tim Peake will be the special guest at a pre-show Q&A at London’s Royal Albert Hall on May 15 featuring the award-winning composer Ilan Eshkeri, who releases his new album Space Station Earth two days before.

The album will be accompanied by an immersive, out-of-this-earth tour created in collaboration with the European Space Agency (ESA), which will debut at the Royal Albert Hall then go to Denmark, Sweden and Germany featuring different special guest astronauts: Andreas Mogensen in Denmark and Sweden, and Matthias Maurer in Germany.

The Space Station Earth album uses Eshkeri’s evocative blend of modern electronic and vintage acoustic instrumentation to convey through music the extraordinary emotional voyage that astronauts experience in space. The project began when Peake contacted Eshkeri to say that he was a fan of his work. That initial connection resulted in the composer being granted unprecedented access by the ESA. Eshkeri said: “I got to see rocket launches, a zero-gravity flight and a chance to get lost in their video archive, as well as the opportunity to get advice from ESA scientists and astronauts. I started creating the music with synthesisers and then I started to add strings, brass and choir to deliver the awe-inspiring, epic scale that only an orchestra can.

“I never imagined I’d have the privilege of collaborating with astronauts to try to impart the experience of space travel through music, of looking out into the darkness of space and back

COMPOSER: Award-winning Ilan Eshkeri

upon our beautiful and fragile planet.”

The Space Station Earth live show is described as a music-led, multimedia experience that allows the audience to see through the eyes of astronauts and to contemplate our planet, the stars and the exploration of the universe.

Eshkeri’s new music will be complemented by images he shot at various ESA locations, as well as rare footage filmed by astronauts aboard the International Space Station.

The images will be projected across three massive screens together with a light show.

Peake said: “There aren’t many words that can truly describe the beauty of seeing Earth from space and Space Station Earth attempts to do this by using music and video to capture the emotion of human spaceflight and exploration. Featuring previously unreleased footage from ESA astronauts and accompanied by a live orchestra, the show creates a unique experience, one that celebrates space and unites the audience, just as exploration unites humankind.”

Eshkeri recently unveiled the new video for Aurora, which sets his music to dazzling footage of the aurora borealis: better known as the Northern Lights. He added: “Seeing the aurora borealis is an epic experience and I wanted to express the scale and majesty of it in music. The astronauts have also shot mind-blowing footage of it, which we use in the concert, so until space tourism becomes an everyday occurrence, Space Station Earth is the closest you’ll get.”

Eshkeri’s long-term collaborators include naturalist Sir David Attenborough and actor/ director Ralph Fiennes. His other creative partnerships include musicians Annie Lennox, David Gilmour, Sinead O’Connor, KT Tunstall, Tom Odell, Emeli Sandé, Ash, Take That and Coldplay. n Go to: spacestationearth.com/tour for ticket details.

Royal Air Force News Friday, April 8, 2022 R'n'R 6

R'n'R Your Announcements

You can email photos for announcements on this page to: tracey.allen@rafnews.co.uk

Death WATSON Geoff Chief Tech passed away suddenly at home on March 5. He will be sadly missed by his wife Celia, son Graeme, daughter Victoria and his dearly loved grandchildren Jack, Alice, Alexander and Robert.

Geoff was born in 1947 and joined the Royal Air Force in 1965. He served at Digby, the Maldives, Stanbridge, Locking, Rudloe Manor, Henlow and Cyprus during the Turkish invasion and again in the 1980s.

Whilst serving in AFCENT he lived in many European countries.

He also volunteered for recruiting duties at Blackburn in Lancashire.

The funeral took place on April 4 at St George’s Church, Tynemouth. Donations to the Red Cross Ukraine Crisis fund.

Seeking LOOKING for any members of the 47th entry TG19 Hereford 62-64. Are there any still about? Please contact Jim Cummins on: Carol_cummins@aol.com or 01302 532865,07517 416702.

DOES anyone know the whereabouts of Steve Welburn and Steve Butterworth? Steve Welburn was the OC RAF Swanton Morley detachment at BAe Woodford Nimrod AEW project. Steve Butterworth was on 16 Sqn Buccaneers RAF Laarbruch in the early 80s. Please contact Ron Peate, now Ron ThompsonPeate, via email: lindaro146@ yahoo.co.uk DO you know the man in these photos? These two photographs, taken in August 1991, are from a collection of 20 pictures.

Chf Tech Geoff Watson His final posting was to TCW at Brize Norton and he was overseas at many locations from Canada to Malaysia.

Geoff was one of the first arrivals in the Gulf during Operation Granby, arriving in August 1990. This was his last posting and he retired after 26 years of service upon on his return.

He went on to be an IT Project director for ICL and Fujitsu until he retired 14 years ago.

He then spent six months of the year in France renovating a house there, enjoying studying current affairs and military history and as a keen model railway enthusiast building a garden railway, returning finally to his roots in Northumberland for the last three years of his life.

The owner of the photos would like to pass all of them onto the man in them. The main image was taken at the peak of Mount Grammos in Greece and the image inset in Covent Garden, London.

The owner of the photos believes that the man’s name is Ian Fancourt and he may have been serving at RAF Wittering at the time. If you know this man, would you forward this article to him asking him to please contact: tracey.allen@rafnews.co.uk who will put him in touch with the owner of the photos so that the images can be passed on.

I am trying to contact the next of kin of Pilot Officer Denys Bellerby who, on January 4, 1941, was one of a crew of four on a training flight aboard a Wellington L7783 from 99 Squadron Bomber Command when the plane crashed and two of the crew died.

I would also like to contact the next of kin of Wg Cdr Walter Hutton (26036, later Air Commodore) of 210 Squadron Coastal Command.

I would like to reproduce their letters of condolence when a colleague died in 1940 and 1942 respectively.

I would be extremely grateful if anyone with any information could contact me: ccecil@carolinececil. co.uk.

I am trying to find anyone who remembers or has information about an RAF chap who served in Wunstorf, near Hanover, in the 1950s. His name is/was John Penford. I am an RBL member living in Germany.

Please email: nigel.capel@ yahoo.co.uk LOOKING for any of the class of IFN4/66, nav inst fitters course held at RAF Newton from April 1966 to March 1967. Please contact Malcolm Hodgson on: hodgson8448@gmail.com

How to use our service There is no charge for conventionally-worded birth, engagement, marriage, anniversary, death, in memoriam seeking and reunion notices. For commercial small ads contact Edwin Rodrigues on: 07482 571535.

We cannot, under any circumstances, take announcements over the telephone. They can be sent by email to: tracey.allen@rafnews.co.uk. Please note that due to the coronavirus pandemic we are currently unable to accept notices submitted by post.

Important Notice The publishers of RAF News cannot accept responsibility for the quality, safe delivery or operation of any products advertised or mentioned in this publication.

Reasonable precautions are taken before advertisements are accepted but such acceptance does not imply any form of approval or recommendation. Advertisements (or other inserted material) are accepted subject to the approval of the publishers and their current terms and conditions. The publishers will accept an advertisement or other inserted material only on the condition that the advertiser warrants that such advertisement does not in any way contravene the provisions of the Trade Descriptions Act. All copy is subject to the approval of the publishers, who reserve the right to refuse, amend, withdraw or otherwise deal with advertisements submitted to them at their absolute discretion and without explanation.

All advertisements must comply with the British Code of Advertising Practice. Mail order advertisers are required to state in advertisements their true surname or full company name, together with an address from which the business is managed.

I am interested in contacting any ex-40th entry 1 Squadron, C Flight, Boy Entrants, at RAF Hereford 1960-61. Are there any still about? Please contact Ken Tinker on: KenMckean100@ gmail.com or call: 01722 790344 or 07377 03054.

LOOKING for anyone stationed at RAF Safi, in Malta, and RAF Idris, in Libya, between June 1963 and December 1965. Also, anyone on the RAF flight on Floriana parade ground for Independence Day in September 1964, in Malta.

Please contact Geoff Stevens on: moomin33@hotmail. co.uk or (01795) 479803.

THE RAF Mountain Rescue Association was formed in 1993 and since then has built up a large e-archive and website telling the story of RAF MR since it was officially recognised in 1943.

The amount of information about the various teams varies widely and very little is known about RAF Harrowbeer which had a team for only a few months in 1944. In common with all the other RAF MRTs at that time the Team Leader was the Senior Medical Officer, in Harrowbeer’s case Sqn Ldr Frank Constable.

The RAF Harrowbeer Operational Record Book Form 540 indicates that there were approximately 30 to 50 airmen serving on RAF Harrowbeer Mountain Rescue Team which had been in service for at least four months. There may have been an unofficial RAF Mountain Rescue on this station prior to 1944.

RAF Harrowbeer Mountain Rescue Team may have been the first search and rescue unit to be formed on Dartmoor.

RAF Harrowbeer Mountain Rescue veterans are entitled to join the Royal Air Force Mountain Rescue Association.

If any readers can throw any light on this team or have information about Sqn Ldr Constable please contact Philip Rose at: philiprose3321@gmail. com. Philip is co-ordinating research into the team.

Reunions RAF Bawdsey Reunion Association.

Having cancelled our 2020 reunion, we have provisionally planned the next reunion for Saturday, May 21 before The Queen’s Jubilee celebrations and the extended public holidays in early June, and

we look forward to seeing our friends again then. Any queries please email: doreen. bawdseyreunion@btinternet. com or call: 07513 301723.

AFTER 55 years, the RAFAA 308 Entry Reunion will be held at the National Memorial Arboretum on June 15. A guided tour is being arranged in the afternoon and there is also an option for dinner, bed & breakfast at the Cathedral Hotel in Lichfield. For more information, please contact Nick Nicholson on: 01691 682174 or email: nich33@ btinternet.com.

RAF Admin Apprentice Association Annual General Meeting and Reunion June 17-19, Northampton Marriott Hotel. For full details and options please contact the Association’s Social Secretary on: 01403 581324 or email: socialsecretary@ rafadappassn.org. This will be our first reunion since lockdown and will be a great chance to catch up with old friends and indeed make new ones.

60TH Reunion, 45th entry, C. Flight 3 Squadron suppliers reunion July 8 and 9 at 3 Counties Hotel, Hereford.

Further information contact Dinger Bell on: 01482377625.

THE RAF Changi Association (inc. HQFEAF) founded May 1996 welcomes new members from all ranks, ex RAF/WRAF/WAAF and

civilian personnel who served at RAF Changi (inc.

HQFEAF ) during 1946-72.

For more information please contact our Membership Secretary: Malcolm Flack on: 01494 728562 or email: MemSecChangi@outlook. com or visit: www.rafchangi. com for more details.

RAFAA Association IF you trained as an RAF Administrative Apprentice (or are related to one) we would be delighted to welcome you to the RAFAAA. Our aim is to promote friendship and general wellbeing among our veterans, via social gatherings and assorted activities, as devised by an elected committee, and a regular newsletter. See :rafadappassn.org or please contact the Membership Secretary on: 07866 085834 or Chairman on: 01933 443673.

Catering Association RAF Catering Warrant Officers’ and Seniors’ Association (RAF CWO&SA): all serving or retired TG19 WO or FS and all former Catering Branch Officers are invited to join the RAF CWO&SA. We meet twice yearly. For more information or a membership application form, please email: davescott10@hotmail. co.uk

Memorial funds plea MESOTHELIOMA UK, the national charity for the asbestos-related cancer, is raising funds to site a memorial to veterans and serving personnel at the National Arboretum in Staffordshire.

Anne Moylan from the charity, a Mesothelioma Clinical Nurse Specialist based at Queen Alexandra Hospital in Portsmouth, said: “Mesothelioma is completely avoidable and sadly the UK has the highest incidence in the world due to its legacy of asbestos use.

“The charity is dedicated to providing specialist information, support and education and to improving care and treatment for all UK mesothelioma patients and their carers.

“Since starting the Supporting Our Armed Forces project in 2017 with LIBOR funding from the government we have focused on raising awareness of asbestos exposure in the

military, and developing bespoke information for veterans diagnosed with mesothelioma.”

Just over half of the £40,000 target amount for the memorial (artist's impression pictured above) has been raised to date.

Go to: mesothelioma. uk.com/armed-forcesmemorial-donation for more information and to donate.

Royal R oyal Air F Force orce N News ews Fr Friday, iday, A April pril 8, 202 2022 22 R'n'R 7

R'n'R R 'n' nR Your Y our u Announcements Announcements

You Y ou o can email email photos photos ffor or ann announcements ouncements oon n tthis his pa page ge tracey.allen@rafnews.co.uk tto: o: tr acey..allen@rafnews.co.uk

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Royal Air Force News Friday, April 8, 2022 R'n'R 8

R'n'R Crossword

Su Doku

No. 313

No. 323

Solve the crossword, then rearrange the eight letters in yellow squares to find an RAF station

Fill in all the squares in the grid so that each row, each column and each 3x3 square contains all the digits from 1 to 9.

Across 7. On the map a cherished chopper appears (6) 8. Country places old Parisian money before European leader (6) 10. Castle copper holds helmet in middle of beat (7) 11. Chum has no right to become addict (5) 12. Require pound, we hear (4) 13. Monstrous crime boss? (2,3) 17. Judy disapproves of his slapstick (5) 18. Jet red fruit to king (4) 22. I am involved with the female bandit (5) 23. Dearest partner made Earnest unhappy (7) 24. Directors sailing (6) 25. Vast number of people: foreign? (6) Down 1. In autumn mostly fiddlers use jets (7) 2. A German Klopp or Tuchel bewilder (7) 3. Applaud second half of 7, your majesty! (5) 4. RAF helicopter mythical creature, by the sound of it (7) 5. Mocking smile of prophet has point (5) 6. Scottish know party from sport (5) 9. Destroys raunchier plane (9) 14. Top student takes car-maker to museum (7) 15. Fighter favoured by Fatima or Tessa? (7) 16. Mishandled takings in icy pursuit (7) 19. Maps essential on this aircraft? (5) 20. Airwoman puts in loads of training at first (5) 21. Lots involved in this hammer’s use (5)

Solution to Su Doku No: 322

Solution to Crossword No 312: Across – 1. Aged 8. Apocalypse 9. Blenheim 10. Avro 12. Trophy 14. Reduce 15. Nellis 17. Marham 18. Eden 19. Marriage 21.

Shackleton 22. Sash Down – 2. Girlfriend 3. Dawn 4. Comedy 5. Hammer 6. Lysander 7. Zero 11. Rectangles 13. Polo Neck 16. Simple 17. Merits 18. Ease 20. Ions RAF exercise – Red Flag

Film Review

Sanctity of Space (12A) In cinemas now

F David's in running A

WA R D - W I N N I N G singer Craig David will be headlining Party In The Paddock at Newbury Racecourse on July 16.

Initially rising to success with hit singles including 7 Days, Fill Me In and Walking Away, 16 years later David was catapulted back into the charts with Big Narstie on the gold certified single When The Bassline Drops. He has since released the number 1 album Following My Intuition and his latest release The Time Is Now has given him his fifth UK top 10 album.

David (pictured) said: “I’m really looking forward to seeing you all in July and having a great night, like last time… great vibe, great night, time to party.”

Go to: newburyracecourse. co.uk or call 01635 40015 for more information.

OLLOWING IN the footsteps of their hero, a bunch of mountaineers find themselves pulled towards an impossible climb in North America, daring to cross a series of peaks that had never been thought of before.

Opening to a recreated shot of a man on a plane in 1936 pointing a large barrelled turret out of a window to the grand and arresting Alaskan mountain range below, it is revealed that the contraption in his hands is actually a military grade camera; the man is Bradford Washburn, legendary explorer and photographer.

Immediately there is a twinkling grandeur in Sanctity of Space, as suggested by its lofty title (taken in fact from a poem by AngloAmerican Royal Canadian Air Force fighter pilot John Gillespie Magee Jr.) The documentary manages to tell two stories: one of Renan Ozturk, Zach Smith and Freddie Wilkinson and the trials they face with each attempt at the so-called ‘Tooth Traverse’, and the other of the pioneer and trailblazer who inspired them, and so many others.

The film tries to be both an informative documentary, a loose biopic of Washburn, but also includes some of that live-wire energy of (recent Oscar winner) Free Solo – this it manages to do, semi-successfully.

Whilst

Lofty ambitions

Majesty of mountains takes centre stage

STUNNING LANDSCAPES LANDSCAPES: The awe-inspiring Alaskan mountain ranges are the real stars of Sanctity of Space

some might just want the adrenaline rush of watching these young men clamber up sheer rock faces, there are some natural breaks in the story as our lads recuperate between climb attempts,

sometimes taking years, which allows for a few lessons on context.

Though this can be a little dry and repetitive, the cinematography – shot by the climbers themselves – is undeniably stunning. It would

certainly benefit by being seen on a big screen, but the quality of these images goes a long way in translating the experience.

3 out of 5 roundels Review by Sam Cooney