We were, again, hosted royally by the proprietors of a small 
museum in his honour, before returning to our hotel.
That evening, we met up with Henry’s son, Edward, with whom Keith Hildred had been corresponding before our visit. Over a very enjoyable dinner, we discussed the events planned for our big day tomorrow – meeting Henry himself.
Henry was resident
in the George Hees Veterans’ Wing of the Sunnybrook Hospital in Toronto, where we arrived the next morning, appropriately dressed for this momentous occasion in No 1 Uniform. Henry welcomed us, also very dapper in flannels and a blazer, porting the 208 Squadron crest.
We had brought a number of 
items with us to present to Henry in commemoration of his service with the Squadron. First of these was a gift from the Association of a framed copy of the Squadron’s Battle Honours. Not just those on the Squadron Standard, but also those actions that, according to the Historian at the time, Dr David Styles, would have been included had 208 
been an Army unit. I spent some time discussing with Henry those that had occurred during his time on the Squadron, plus a number of those from its more recent history.
I then briefly explained the Squadron’s current training role to Henry, and showed him the Order of Service from the recent dedication of a stained glass window to the Squadron in St Mihangel’s Church at RAF Valley.
We also presented 
Henry with a copy 
of the Squadron Print before Flight Lieutenant Simon Batt spent some time explaining current Hawk operations, particularly Low Level Navigation, although none of us could match Henry’s own exploits in his Sopwith Camel, particularly when he ‘collected a souvenir’ fencepost in his undercarriage during one particular sortie.
Balloon Buster 100 -
