Pete Stapleton (31st Entry)

I am enclosing a photo of myself and Ken Baldock (32nd), taken in September 2008 whilst walking the South West Coastal Path with our wives.
We met at RAF Hereford in 1951 and soon became very good friends. We kept in touch over the years and had several holidays together with our wives, Mary and Janette, and children. We ended up stationed together at RAF Henlow where I finished my service in 1980. It was quite a coincidence starting and finishing my RAF career with Ken. He soldiered on for many more years but when we were both eventually retired our holidays together became more frequent. We are all keen walkers and over the years have covered much of the South West Coastal Path, enjoying the beautiful countryside of Devon and Cornwall.
This year Ken’s daughter Tracy, who lives in the USA presented him with two caps. In September 2008 Ken and Mary stayed with us in Plymouth and I was duly presented with mine. We have been stopped on several occasions whilst out walking, people wonder about the significance of the ‘31’ and ‘32’. You can imagine that the tale of our initial meeting as Apps is often told and that friendly inter Entry rivalry still shines through.