Enjoy a selection of articles submitted either by, or on behalf of, our members. If you are an ex-RAF Administrative Apprentice, have served as a member of the RAF Administrative Apprentices training staff, are related to or have served with any ex-RAF Administrative Apprentices, you are welcome to submit an article for publication. To do so click the button below:
Submit An ArticleArticles are required to be approved by our website manager before posting and those published will be catalogued by name of the contributor and their entry number if appropriate. They can be on any subject so if you have had an interesting experience either during or after your RAF Administrative Apprentice training or later as a civilian, we would be glad to hear from you.
I found this unfinished article in my old Draft Documents Folder and decided to submit it, after adding a few changes here and there, as dictated by m ...Read More
[caption id="attachment_21985" align="alignleft" width="246"] ...Read More
I have always enjoyed writing (or scribbling as I should perhaps describe it) and hope that the examples of my work that I leave behind will be apprec ...Read More
During the period of my retirement, while we were living in Telford, I found part-time employment for several years as a Clerk to the Governing Bodies ...Read More
Website Manager Note 12th June 2023: This article has also been published in the 306th Entry Scrapbook Page. The ...Read More
I cannot say that I came from a military back ground: my father had been unfortunate enough to have served in the Army in both World Wars. In the Firs ...Read More
After watching Alan Bell’s excellent 25th Anniversary video, I felt pangs of nostalgia and the years rolled away for a little while.  ...Read More
I had never travelled much before joining the RAF, we had lived close to the coast and around an hour’s drive away from the Brecon Beacons to enjoy ...Read More
We cleaned up the quarter in Wellington Square ready for marching out, we had expected a stringent inspection as the house had been recently refurbish ...Read More
ANZAC DAY MARCH 2023 The annual Anzac Day March took place on 25th April 2023 and is normally attended by Ian Bell, Tony Collins and David Brandon ho ...Read More
I read the March Newsletter with a heavy heart. On the one hand the Editor lamented the fact he had received only a single article, and plea ...Read More
Last year I found a small pocket sized RAF diary that I had kept for the whole of 1955 and hoped it would prove illuminating, as it covered my first t ...Read More
Now that the nights are drawing in (and the telly is on the blink) I find myself spending much more time looking back, contemplating my life and exper ...Read More
A few days ago our long-serving TV set finally gave up the ghost leaving us bereft at the suddeness of it all. I accompanied it on its final journey t ...Read More
The day following the announcement regarding the arrangements for the members of the public who wanted to pay their last respects to HM Quee ...Read More
It has happened again! After a 2 year interregnum our sadly-depleted Band of Brothers, just like the Muslim Hajj to Mecca, and the seasonal migration ...Read More
I finally retired a few weeks ago after thirty nine years in the RAF and twenty years as a Military History Tour Guide. I have been writing a book for ...Read More
RAF Bircham Newton In autumn 1961 I sat the aptitude and medical tests at the dismal RAF Recruiting Office (shared with The Royal ...Read More
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Website Manager Note: I have made some minor changes to this narrative to comply with the needs of compiling this page. I have also inclu ...Read More
I graduated from AATS Bircham Newton 60 years ago as I write. Although I was proud to have been awarded the Air Ministry Secretarial Prize for my entr ...Read More
I had the distinct privilege of serving as an Apprentice at Credenhill for two years and three months. Some regrets, but some good friendships made. ...Read More
I am sure that every RAF Apprentice or Boy Entrant would agree that their training has had a profound influence on their life, career and outlook in o ...Read More
In 1965 I was P1A at HQ Signals Command (Formerly HQ 90 Group). As such I was charged with preparing documentation for Courts Martial convened in the ...Read More
Leaving 3S of TT, RAF Hereford and 307 Entry behind me in 1967 I was soon to begin to learn about the lack of joined up thinking that remained apparen ...Read More
Here are some recollections that might generate some interest in 29th to 34th entries: [caption id="attachment_19918" align="alignright" width="274 ...Read More
I was standing outside the brightly lit cinema foyer, on a chilly Tuesday evening in the late autumn of 1958, with the growing feeling that I was goin ...Read More
On pass out from Bircham Newton I was posted in January 1961 to RAF Feltwell where 77 Sqdn was operational with the Thor Missile System. My remit i ...Read More
'It was never like that in my day' my Dad would say grumpily as we entered the Rock and Roll era in the mid 50s and then the Swinging 60s. 'Teddy boys ...Read More
I am in discussion with Mike Hamill (40th) who will be shortly submitting an article which will include mention about his time living in Wendover.&nbs ...Read More
My father was born on 22 April 1900, the youngest son of William Blundell and Agatha Coutts, Who were respectively, the head gardener and the children ...Read More
I enlisted into the Royal Air Force as an Administrative Apprentice at No 3 School of Technical Training on 9th September 1965. I wen ...Read More
In 1961 I took advantage of a 48hour pass from Bircham to my home at R.A.F. Halton, Wendover, Bucks, where my father was an instructor. I was very ...Read More
Now in my 8th decade I find it a little difficult to recall the era of my youth with any great clarity. It was a very different world then that ...Read More
Our thanks to the very ‘keen eyed’, Dave Ainsworth (304th) who spotted the following article which appeared in the ‘Peterborough’ C ...Read More
I’m sure you will agree fifty years is a long time. 6th January 1971, the swinging sixties had ended and it appears had good mus ...Read More
Website Manager Note: The first part of Harry's article can be read here: https://rafadappassn.org/articles/dunkirk-my-fathers-sto ...Read More
When I was eventually allowed to leave Apprentice School in 1960 and let loose on the RAF proper I was posted to HQ 11 Group at RAF Martlesham Heath.& ...Read More
SUMMER CAMP – DEVON – 1st to 15th JUNE 1962 About three or four times a year I drive across Dartmoor (I live near ...Read More
Dear Sir, The article in the September 2020 Newsletter by Alan Bell concerning Pay Parades immediately rang a bell in my mind. I well remember a ...Read More
I came across an excellent colour photograph of the airmen's swimming pool at RAF Changi that was taken from the Changi Hospital in the early 1960s. I ...Read More