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.
Many moons ago in a world far removed from the present one was located a tiny island called Gan. The Royal Air Force in its infinite wisdom decided to ...Read More
I arrived at Bircham Newton in September 1959. It was cold and bleak and I thought ‘what have I let myself in for’ (or words to that effect). Afte ...Read More
RAF Upavon was to be my home and a more deserted place in mainland Britain would be hard to find. It was stuck on top of what could only be described ...Read More
A station close to he heart of most who have ever picked up a pen as part of their Royal Air Force service, this station closed its gates for good on ...Read More
I joined the RAF Admin Apprentices Association a few months ago and I guess I am a bit of a whipper snapper compared to many other members. I join ...Read More
Memories of the 1st Entry Part III I suffered the ignominy of ‘jankers’ only on one occasion: W.O. (???) (one of the instructors whose name I ...Read More
The recent death of Paul Raymond, Soho Porn King, made me feel rather sad. Mr Raymond was a notorious entrepreneur, pedalling ‘soft porn’ in all ...Read More
I suppose it was inevitable that I would become a member of Her Majesty's Royal Air Force at sometime. Born in 1945 and christened Richard Alan Fray, ...Read More
Reminiscences of the 1st Entry (Contd). Jock King already in the billet, having transferred from a Radio course at RAF Cranwell or Halton. (583106) ...Read More
Yesterday I watched Norwich City play Leicester City at Carrow Road and it brought back memories of the day I was Assistant Referee in the same game i ...Read More
Some Memories Of Ruislip January 1939 (Part 2) Then into this serene situation descended the "E" Class reserve. Some short time previously reserv ...Read More
My 84 year old French friend and neighbour Henri discussed the possibility of travelling together to stay at his small apartment in Villers-sur-Mer in ...Read More
(Worth noting: these “recollections” were first compiled in the spring of 2007 – after some delay of close on sixty years since the events, and ...Read More
I caught one of those double deckers that seemed to be rolled out to convey personnel to and from Hereford railway station to RAF Hereford. Had no ide ...Read More
I had been sent a railway warrant and instructions to catch a train from Marylebone station for Ruislip. Living as far away as the Midlands, and neve ...Read More
During my tour Joe Cahill and his sympathisers decided to have a 'rant' as a result of the 'Bloody Sunday' debacle in the North; outside the Embassy, ...Read More
One reason the Services have trouble operating jointly is that they don't speak the same language. For example, if you told Royal Navy personnel to "s ...Read More
TO THOSE OF YOU NOT FAMILIAR WITH JOE ARPAIO , HE IS THE MARICOPA ARIZONA COUNTY SHERIFFAND HE KEEPS GETTING ELECTED OVER AND OVER AGAIN THIS IS ONE ...Read More
Most of us are aware that the original Queen Mary rests at Long Beach, California as a tourist attraction. This is a less than glorious end for a very ...Read More
The (Apprentice) Wheel turns full circle. In 1957 the 27th Entry Clk Secs had diminished in number to the point where they were "shared out" into vari ...Read More
A lot of apprentices will remember Sgt Wally Prior the 01 Sergeant at Bircham Newton. Not long ago Wally was spotted in a supermarket in Folkestone. A ...Read More
While walking down the street one day an MP is tragically hit by a truck and dies. His soul arrives in heaven and is met by St Peter at the entrance. ...Read More
It is curious how many of the photos in the archives follow the same pattern i.e. either outside one of the huts in the lines at St.Athan or outside a ...Read More
Does the statement, "We've always done it that way," ring any bells? Well, consider this. The US standard railway gauge (the distance between the r ...Read More
Is there another word for synonym? Whose idea was it to have a letter "s" in the word lisp? Why is "abbreviation" such a long word? Why is it so ha ...Read More
I read in Newsletter 53, with great interest, Frank Craig’s account of his journey to and from Christmas Island. I was on the same return flight tha ...Read More
At a Time when the England Football Team has arrived in Israel for their international I have a tale to tell. I worked in Israel for 6 years for the ...Read More
Following on from the Ruislip Apprentice Clerk scheme (abandoned during W.W 2), I'm sure you will know that the post-war Admin. App. numbering system ...Read More
This story is true. I know because I was there. In 1976 I was stationed at RAF Aldergrove but, in fact, RAF Aldergrove did not officially exist. In v ...Read More
After returning to Hereford as a corporal instructor, and teaching airmen and airwomen how to type, I was after 2-1/2 years posted to Aden. An uneven ...Read More
Further to Jimmy James' comments on 1107 MCU at Newhaven in Newsletter No. 58. After bratschool I was posted to Tangmere, where my first job was th ...Read More
In year two I got down to Politics proper and much to my surprise found that I could pick my own subjects. This was a huge benefit for me as there ...Read More
When I graduated from the University of Durham in 1993, I swore that my essay writing days were finished, irrevocably and totally. I had not, I am ...Read More
Memory plays strange tricks! The TV was on the other day. It was a WW2 film in black and white. I wasn’t really watching when suddenly I heard a ...Read More
RAF Bircham Newton closed in December 1962 and AATS moved to RAF Hereford. The last Station Commander at Bircham Newton was Group Captain Panton wh ...Read More
Despite serving in the ‘real’ Air Force in UK, Far East, Middle East and ‘The Isle of Christmas’ on operational stations, I had the extreme ...Read More