Useful Information

Hi everyone, I mentioned the RAF service Medal to Larry after spotting the Awards Productions website. I lost my father's WW2 medals years ago and thought I would replace them in a personalised presentation frame. They did such a good job I decided to get my grandfathers WW1 medals done the same way. That's when I noticed the RAF Service Medal. It's a very attractive commemorative medal available to anyone who served in the RAF, with clasps, engraved, and in a personalised case. I've now got a nice collection to pass onto my son and thereafter his son. I wonder what he will make of them when he's old enough to understand. As Larry says, if you are interested go online and have a look.
You won't be disappointed.

Mike.

I find your site when I am looking for information about an attack to the cargo ship "Bonita" at December 27, 1940 off Ponta Delgada harbour by the English submarine "Trident".

At your list of RAF air base abroad you forget The Lages Air Base at Terceira Island The Azores Archipelago established at 1943, October Two years later the base was transferred to the US Navy until today.

I sent an item to you some time ago and since then have finished writing my autobiography. It has now been published by Woodfield Publishing in UK. RRP £9.95.
I have bought 60 copies to be sold in the UK and all proceeds from these sales will go to the UK Charity IDEALS. See their website and Leonard
Cheshire Centre website. My experiences at Dunedu and Gan (1963/64) together with tours in Libya (1948/9) Germany (1953/5) Cyprus (1959/61)
and a second tour of Germany (1965/68) form a major part of the biography.

Purchasers in UK who wish to donate to IDEALS can order from:

Michael Chick
1 Windsor Drive,
Rustington.
W. Sussex
U.K. BN16 3SW

Cheques for UK residents Value of £13 inc. P&P made payable to IDEALS sent to the above address will be responded to with little delay. Letters with cheques should quote number of books required, Name and Address for postal delivery. Mention this web site so that Mike can advise me.

If preferred, the book can be ordered by email from the Woodfield Publishing website but the charity misses out if this is done. Overseas residents should send a cheque as above but to the value of £15.

On behalf of IDEALS, I thank you,

About the book:
Bill Ash lost his US citizenship to join the RAF (RCAF 411 Sqn) while America was still neutral in 1940. He flew Spitfires in combat in 1941 and was shot down over France in 1942. He crash-landed and was helped by the French Resistance, eventually falling into the hands of the Gestapo in Paris where he was tortured for refusing to give away the names of his helpers.

He was then sent to a series of POW camps, including Stalag Luft III, made famous by The Great Escape. He helped to lead major tunnel breakouts in camps in Germany, Poland and Lithuania before finally escaping in the last days of the war. He is still alive and well, living in London where he remained after the war and was awarded the MBE for his escape activities.

Sometimes very funny, sometimes heart-wrenching, Bill describes the humour and humanity that helped ordinary people achieve extraordinary things during the conflict that shaped our history. This week is the UK launch, also Australia and NZ (the book will be available in USA and Canada from October).

Many thanks for taking the time to read - as I'm sure you know it is a mighty task to get such a book published these days and I would really like as many people as possible to get to know about it, so please feel free to forward this to anyone you think might be interested.

About the Author
The easiest way to describe Bill is as a real-life version of the fictional character of Hilts the 'Cooler King' played by Steve McQueen in The Great Escape. In his review of Under the Wire, Alan Plater comments "Bill Ash is the real thing. He makes Steve McQueen look like Jim Carrey".

From: Reinhard Wiese
To: Larry Dodds
Date: Wed, 12 Oct 2005 18:58:52 +0200

Hi Larry,
where have you been? I was looking for you 2 all the time during our stay in Addu. When new guests came I thought it could be you. We have been only 10 gasts in the Equator Village. It was beautiful quiet. The weather was...youwould not believe me, but we had incredible sunshine day by day, only 1 day of rain during this 3 weeks. It is very quiet in Addu now, because all the people from Sri Lanka, working in the factories, have left last December.
The most shops have closed. No buses on the roads anymore and no noise.
Only when a plane arrives, you can see some cars. It is very different. We also went over to Huludu and Medu, the other islands you see on the right site. But from this islands a lot of people went to Male and now there are only 1500 people on this big island. Years before it was more than 6000. We had a very nice lunch there on the beach with lobster and real Maldivian things. The last night we spend in Male. There was so much traffic, I could not sleep. It was 1 day before Ramadan starts and all people were shopping.

Now you know what's going on in Addu. I hope to hear from you soon.
Many regards from Monika and Reinhard

Below is the reply I received from the Veterans Agency to my e-mail requesting clarification of eligibility for receipt of a Veteran's Lapel Badge. It makes interesting reading !!

Mr P Small
(by e:mail)

Dear Mr Small

Graham Taylor
Veterans Services Team
Room 6108
Norcross, Thornton – Cleveleys FY5 3WP

Tel: 01253 332471
e:mail graham.taylor2@veteransagency.gsi.gov.uk

Date: 27^th April 2005

Veteran's Lapel Badge

Thank you for your e-mail dated 23^rd April which you raised concerns about the eligibility of the scheme.

The Minister for Veterans intention is that the Veteran's lapel badge should in due course be made available to UK Armed Forces' veterans of all generations and conflicts. However, he believes it makes sense to fulfil the demand from Second World War veterans first before we further extend the eligibility criteria.

The Minister also announced in the House of Commons on 20^th January 05 that from 1^st February this year, the eligibility to receive a badge was to be extended to all Service leavers, subject to certain conditions. This is to reinforce the high esteem in which the country holds, and the thanks we owe to, those who fought 60 years ago, along with today's Armed Forces personnel, who do such a first class job, as was exemplified by the remarkable young man who was warded the Victoria Cross in the latest Operational Honours List for his outstanding acts of gallantry in Iraq.

For Service leavers, and only for Service leavers, the qualifying criteria governing eligibility to receive the Veteran's badge are:

At least 5 years' reckonable service.

Not discharged from the Services for administrative or disciplinary reasons.

For those who are discharged for medical reasons the length of service is waived.

Please rest assured that there is no intention to apply length of service as a criterion to try to exclude any group of veterans from being eligible to receive a Veteran's lapel badge.

We will extend the eligibility criteria at a later date, which has yet to be decided and we will do so on a chronological basis, taking in those who served between the two World Wars along with those who served in the 1940s but after the end of the Second World War.

I do hope this explains the position.

Yours sincerely

G Taylor

[Tony [Vic] Hawes, RAF Gan 1958].....As I discovered it's now possible to get a copy of your RAF Service Record totally free of charge.
Just send a request for your Service Record with your name, rank and number together with a photocopy of your passport (the page with your personal details and photo) to the address below. In my case they were very quick, a colour copy of four records sheets arrived just ten days after I submitted my request. This gave precise dates for postings, promotions etc. which were otherwise not particularly accurate after the passage of 50 years or so!

PMA IM1b (RAF)
Room 5
Building 248A
RAF Personnel Management Agency
RAF Innsworth
Gloucester GL3 1EZ

Information is free to the person to whom the records refer or their widow or widower, otherwise Innsworth make a charge of £25.00 for any information they provide.