Life So Far – John Berry (308th)

I joined as a Clerk Secretarial Administrative Apprentices at Hereford in 1967 and upon graduation I was posted to RAF Biggin Hill and then transferred to The Officer and Aircrew Selection Centre. In 1970 I was posted to RAF Luqa Malta and I decided that the contraction of the RAF meant that promotion prospects were significantly reduced. I purchased my discharge and went to University. After graduating I joined the Prison Service as a Prison Governor and worked in prisons and HQ postings. I completed my MA, MSc and MBA leaving as Head of Maximising performance Group in HQ. I was invested with the OBE in 2007.

I was offered a post as an Assistant Director with IPRS, a physiotherapy company and worked for it for 10 years on a part time basis retiring in 2016. I was appointed as a Justice of the Peace in 2008 and recruited as an Associate Hospital Manager chairing Mental Health Panels for Leicestershire. Following this I was appointed to Nottingham NHS trust, Priory Hospitals and several other private hospital providers chairing and sitting on panels. I volunteered to sit on an MOD committee for veterans in the East Midlands, and was a Director of an Academy for 12 years. In 2025 I was appointed as a Lay Panel Member sitting on Disciplinary hearings for Leicestershire police.

I have been married for 49 years, have two children and 3 grandsons. I am still working, travelling and enjoying life. I look back fondly on my time in the RAF.