Newsletter May 2014

Focus on 42F
The Newsletter of
42F (King’s Lynn )Squadron
Air Training Corps
January 2014
MAY 20 14
2014— ATC Sunday Parade at RAF Marham
RAF Marham hosted the ATC Sunday parade and service on Sunday 2nd February for local
Norfolk and Suffolk Wing Squadrons. Nationally this annual event for the ATC is held on the
nearest Sunday in February to its founding date of 5th February 1941.
Cadets from 42F (King’s Lynn), 864 (Watton) and 1894 (Swaffham) Sqns joined 864’s DF,
which has its home at RAF Marham, for the service in the stations chaplaincy centre.
The Standards of the three Squadrons preceded the cadets as they marched to the beat of 864
(Watton) Sqn’s drums past RAF Marham’s Station Commander Gp Capt Harvey Smyth OBE
DFC ADC MA RAF who took the salute.
The church service which was conducted by the chaplain, Rev (Sqn Ldr) David Haslam,
included readings and prayers led by cadets and the renewing of the Air Training Corps
Promise and an address to the cadets by Gp Capt Smyth.
Following the service the cadets, staff and proud parents were able to chat informally over tea
and biscuits
42F (King’s Lynn) Squadron ATC
Ascension Island
Accompanied by four adult staff members, 12 teenage cadets
from Norfolk & Suffolk Wing of the Air Training Corps have
just returned from a trip of a lifetime to Ascension, a tiny
volcanic island in the middle of the South Atlantic Ocean.
The lucky members of the expedition came from eight
squadrons of the Wing, 42F (King’s Lynn), 356 (Felixstowe), 301
(Bury St Edmunds), 864 (Watton), 1109 (Thetford), 1331
(Stowmarket), 1895 (Cromer) and 2534 (Fakenham) Squadrons.
Given the overall responsibility for the group as Camp
Commandant was 42F’s Commanding Officer Flight Lieutenant
Pauline Petch who summed up the week by saying, “This was a most memorable camp. The sights and
activities that both the cadets and staff have experienced have been awe inspiring. We have all gained so
much from this stay on this little island in the South Atlantic”..
Following a nine hour night flight in a Voyager passenger jet from RAF Brize Norton the group arrived and
immediately had briefings and a visit to the Met Office. The afternoon was spent relaxing at a swimming
pool in the village of Two Boats. That evening at North East Bay they witnessed the spectacle of hundreds
of land crabs migrating from Green Mountain to lay their eggs in the sea. After spawning they head straight
back to the mountain.
The next day an early start before daybreak enabled the group to meet local conservation workers and to
visit Long Beach, a main Green Turtle nesting site for these majestic endangered creatures, and watch the
females returning to the sea after their nocturnal egg laying. Then it was a trek to the top of Green
Mountain (2,818 feet) in temperatures of over 330c. This walk saw the terrain change from barren cinder
rock through lava, scrub, banana plantation and eventually, at its summit, dense sub-tropical bamboo.
Day three saw the team start the day by doing some beach clearing on Long Beach. The conservation team
on the island had shown the cadets how weeds and roots prevent the turtles from laying their eggs. They
observed a turtle pit which was obstructed by weeds, which may have meant that the turtle had to wait
another night to dig a further hole in which to lay its eggs. Amongst the additional rubbish also found and
removed from the beach was a large tarpaulin buried under the sand which would also prevent the turtles
from laying.
That evening, the team joined a group of islanders, which included American service personnel from their
base on the island, at North East Bay to take part in a traditional American walk called a ‘Hash’. The terrain
was very challenging and the rocks and huge boulders were loose and jagged. This was an opportunity to
socialise with the different groups currently deployed to the island and made an enjoyable evening that
culminated with a group photo with the Air Cadet Ensign.
All the cadets were unanimous in their thoughts of their
time on Ascension.
Cromer Squadron’s Cadet Sergeant Sarah-Jane Keeble, 17,
summing it up said “I had an absolutely fantastic week. I
participated in so many incredible opportunities and
genuinely took part in one of the most unique and
memorable weeks of my life”.
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42F (King’s Lynn) Squadron ATC
End of an Era
It is with deep sorrow that the Officers, Staff, Cadets & Civilian Committee of
42F (King’s Lynn) Squadron ATC announce the death at the age of 91 years of
its No 1 Cadet, Geoffrey Frank Bullen.
In the months before the Second World War the first squadrons of the infant
Air Defence Cadet Corps were being formed throughout the Country and on
2nd January 1939 42 (Founder) Squadron was registered. First in line to join
was 16 year old Geoff, who whilst with 42F was an exemplary cadet.
In November 1941 Geoff was called up into the RAF and soon saw himself sent
to America where he learnt to fly at a number of US and Canadian air bases, in
particular Falcon Field in Arizona, with No 4 British Flying Training School. On
receipt of his ‘Wings’ Geoff was one of a few pilots held back to train further
pilots.
On his return to England he eventually found himself on 29th May 1944 flying a Sterling bomber with
No 1665 Heavy Conversion Unit at RAF Tilstock. Seven days later on 5 thJune he was towing a Horsa Glider
to the River Orne at the commencement of Operation Overlord, the D Day Landings.
On 18th September 1944 he again towed a glider for Operation Market, the unsuccessful attempt to
capture the bridge at Arnhem on the Rhine, and followed this with further supply drops on 20 th &
21st when his plane was hit by flak.
Geoff was attached to 570 Squadron and 196 Squadron and these attachments saw his Sterling involved in
numerous night flying operations supporting SOE and resistance in Holland, Denmark and Norway.
After the war and his return to ‘Civvy Street’ Geoff returned to where it all began, the Air Cadets, by
becoming an instructor with 617 Voluntary Gliding School. He moved with it from Hendon to Manston and
finally Bovingdon where he was its Commanding Officer. Cadets from 1966 and 1967 remember him as “a
true gentleman, fine pilot and patient instructor” and “a really nice guy and great instructor”.
On returning to Norfolk in 1973 Geoff renewed his connection with 42F and regularly attended its reunion
dinners and took a keen interest in the Squadron’s current cadets. He planted a commemorative tree at
the Squadron’s HQ to mark its 60th anniversary. He donated and presented a cup for aviation studies at the
Squadron presentation evenings the last time being in November 2013.
2014 is 42F’s 75th Anniversary year a time of celebration. However with the passing of its Number One
Cadet it is also an End of an Era and a time of sadness. Our thoughts are
with his wife Margaret, son Mark and daughter Jane at this time.
Photos show 1. A young wartime Geoff. 2 With his aeroplane & crew. .
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42F (King’s Lynn) Squadron ATC
New Honorary President for 42F
On Thursday 10th April it was definitely an honour for the cadets to be on parade at the ATC’s
42F (King’s Lynn) Squadron. It was the occasion
when the Earl of Romney, Julian Marsham,
stepped down as the Squadron’s Honorary
President and handed the reins to his successor
Sir Michael Oswald, KCVO.
Having been Honorary President since 2008 Lord
Romney is stepping down but will continue his
close association with the Squadron as he will
now become its Honorary Vice President.
Addressing the cadets he told them that he was
proud to have been their President and very
pleased that his connection with them would be continuing.
Sir Michael Oswald told the cadets that he was very aware of how well the Squadron was thought of in the
town and wider community and having been approached to become its Honorary President he had been
“honoured to have been asked and pleased to accept the role”.
Sir Michael is also an Honorary Air Commodore with the RAF's 2620 (County of Norfolk) RAuxAF Sqn.
Photo shows Sir Michael left & Lord Romney right with the CO Flt Lt Petch and Cadets
Justices Service
The annual High Sheriff of Norfolk’s church service
for Her Majesties Justices took place on Sunday
2nd March and 42F (King’s Lynn) Squadron, Air
Training Corps Cadets and T S Vancouver Sea Cadets formed a Guard of Honour outside the west
door of the towns Minster Church.
History and tradition were on display as the office
of High Sheriff, currently held by the Countess of
Leicester, is at least 1,000 years old, and is the
oldest secular office under the Crown.
The High Sheriff remains the Sovereign’s
representative in the County for all matters
relating to the Judiciary and the maintenance of
law and order.
During the occasion, a large civic procession, led by Mace- Bearers carrying the towns regalia, left the
nearby Town Hall and made its way to the Church.
Civic representatives included Norfolk’s Chief Constable, the High Sheriff and her counterparts from
neighbouring counties, Barristers, Purple and Red Robed Judges, the Lord Lieutenant of Norfolk and
numerous other prominent members of the community.
As she passed between the cadets the Countess of Leicester was heard to say to one of them “You all look
very smart.”
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