Although I have been running the website for nearly a year, I had never before attended a reunion. This was partially due to the long journey from Dorset to Killingholme, and partly because I realised the contradiction of being ‘reunited’ with people that I had never seen before.
I
was unfortunately unable to attend the Friday section of the weekend, but
arrived on Saturday morning. Before meeting anybody, I headed out to find the
site of the airfield. Some of the site has been transformed into a large
industrial centre and poultry farm, but some original buildings and a runway
remain. Despite the passing of the years, it was still possible to imagine the
site as it was over half a century ago.
Having taken some photographs, I headed back to the Amethyst hotel for the buffet lunch. I briefly spoke to Jack Harris and numerous other people, although after the long journey, I was (truthfully) more interested in eating than talking. I’m going to take in this opportunity to put in a brief advert for the Amethyst Hotel in East Halton (just up the road from Killingholme) - it’s well worth a visit if you’re ever in the area.
Leaving the Amethyst, I visited North Killingholme Church, seeing the memorial window for the first time. It was far bigger than I expected, and very impressive. See the NK memorial window page for further details.
By this time I was getting excited about the Lancaster flypast. Glancing around my bedroom as I write this, I can see pictures of at least eight Lancasters, three shelves full of Bomber Command books, and an Airfix Lancaster hanging above the bed. However, the flypast was my first opportunity to see an actual, real-life Lancaster. I would not be disappointed.
We
followed an RAF air Training Cadets band from the centre of Killingholme to the
memorial stone, in the appropriately named ‘Lancaster Approach’ road. After
many seagulls and other false alarms, somebody saw three specks in the distance,
and moments later, a Spitfire, a Hurricane and a Lancaster roared overhead, in
tight formation. Everybody fell silent, listening to the noise of the aircraft
engines. The planes wheeled around, and flew over twice more, lower each time. I
had read that seeing the Lancasters flying over lifted the spirits of war-torn
Britain, and now I understand why.
After
a short service at the memorial stone by North Killingholme’s vicar, Rvd Mike
Page-Chestney, we followed the band back to North Killingholme church, for
another moving service, and some ‘ramblings’ from
Jack Harris. These showed the bravery and courage of the now elderly men around
me, and their companions who had given their lives for peace and freedom. A
special mention must also be given to the North Killingholme ground crew, who
(in the words of Jack Harris) ‘instilled in the aircraft a desire to return
home’.
As if the buffet had been a brief snack, the people of North Killingholme had brought a large number of cakes to the village hall (all of which were tasted for evaluation purposes). Special thanks goes to whoever made the lemon cake.
With pockets full of lemon cake, I left the village hall and headed to Hull University. Despite the intelligence associated with universities, the university of Hull is actually in the village of Cottingham, and not actually in Hull. As the students are all gone for the summer, the rooms are used by the Association. I eventually found my room (D11), and uploaded the photographs to the website.
By the Dirk Gently method of navigation, I found the bar area, and set up the computer again, ready to show the website to the waiting masses. This was an opportunity to reflect on the events of the day, and look at the photographs of the flypast.
Having previously found the kitchen in an attempt to find my room, I knew that we would be easting roast lamb. I won’t bore you with details, but it was one the nicest meals I had eaten in a long time. After the meal, some short speeches were given, in which I was complemented on my work on the website. Rvd. Page-Chestney was especially impressed by it, and there is nothing quite as good as knowing that I run a website approved of by God.
Following the presentation of the website, most people went off to the ‘Television Theatre’ for a presentation by Group-Captain Mike Cross. He is the Association’s contact in the RAF, and last year he sledded to the South Pole, to raise money for Diabetes. I was packing away the computer, and unfortunately missed this, although I was told that it was very interesting. More info can be found on the 'curewalk' website - http://www.curewalk.com/news.asp?NewsID=45
I found my way back to my room, and fell asleep.
A fried breakfast does not do justice to the breakfast. It deserves capital letters: a Fried Breakfast; eggs, bacon, sausages, beans, black-pudding and toast….
After breakfast I went to the 550 AGM. We discussed special events for the sixtieth anniversary next year – see the 60th Anniversary page for current news on this. And after the AGM, I went home. The weekend was an amazing experience, and I hope to be able to attend next year.
Finally, I would like to thank everybody that made the weekend possible; not only Jack Harris, who organised it, but everybody else who helped. I won’t try to remember anybodies names, but thankyou to everybody.
Information on next year's anniversary (2004) can be found on the 60th anniversary page
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