208 (CYPRUS) ASSOCIATION
Dave Gill’s Cyprus Group goes from strength to strength each year. That period of 208 was, of course, the first Hunter equipped era between 1958 and 1959, under the command of Squadron Leader John Granville-White.
This year’s Cyprus Association meeting was held very recently, on 4th June at the “Stirrup Cup” on Woodland Avenue in Barton Seagrave near Kettering in Northamptonshire. One new discovery last year was Charlie Smith, who turned up for the 2010 reunion.
Sadly, there are 2 deaths to report - Geoff Smith and Peter Clements.
Still no news from members Dave is trying to trace - Neill Diamond, Basil Smith, Don Dewhurst, Ron Anstead and Jim Burford are still on the missing list.
As has been announced elsewhere in this newsletter Dave Gill has volunteerd to be the Groundcrew Representative to Naval 8/208 Association
METEOR CHAPTER NEWS - 2011:
Meteor: The Meteor Chapter met at the “Coach & Horses” at 1 Great Marlborough Street, Soho on Wednesday, 4th May 2011. With regret and sadness the Chapter has been informed that “Bushy” Holroyd has been killed in a motor accident . “Bushy” was a veteran of the Burma Campaign and had a great affection for 208 and was particularly proud to have been on parade when the Colour was presented in 1955. One of his favourite stories was that no inspecting officer recognized that his cap badge was RFC and not RAF - it had been his uncle’s and he wore with great pride. “Bushy” was not tall but was impressive with his luxuriant moustache. He settled in Germany( Bavaria ) were he enjoyed a very successful career in the state police force. His flasks of Schnapps will be sorely missed at the Meteor Chapter May gatherings
Chairman’s Chunter - 2011
I would like to extend a very warm welcome to the new OC 208 Squadron, Wing Commander Eugene Moriarty, who joined last summer and who attended his first Association Dinner in October 2010 – welcome aboard Eugene.
The general financial situation of the Association is steady with the general balance of income against expenditure. However, we must plan for the day when we are not able to negotiate such a cheap deal for the printing of the Newsletter which we currently enjoy thanks to David Styles. The Committee is exploring a number of different options , but at the moment we rely upon the generous donations by members - so please keep the money rolling in!
The Association web site goes from strength to strength thanks to the efforts of Tim Webb - do take a quick look when you get the chance as there are a lot of pictures and stories to read. Tim will be delighted to include any photos and written pieces, so dig into your scrap books and log books for those forgotten gems so that we can all enjoy them!
There have been a couple of Association Committee changes since the last Newsletter and I would like to welcome Dave Gill to the Committee as the new Groundcrew Member. Dave is very active with the 208 Sqn (Cyprus) Chapter and organizers regular reunions in Cyprus for the \Hunter fraternity and does a great job in maintaining contact with ex-208 members. Dave would like all ex-Groundcrew to contact him so that he can build up a a list of Groundcrew Members - his details can be found by following this Link
As reported by the President David Styles has decided to step down as the Editor of the Newsletter after this edition; I echo the sentiment expressed by the President in thanking David for his hard work over the many years , which I know all Association members will share with me. David is exploring an exciting new venture in th USA - we wish him the very best of luck. Malcolm Ward continues to be the Buccaneer Chapter representative, but would like to hand over this role - Volunteers required!
