REPORT FOR OCTOBER - RNAS YEOVILTON
President Fiona Chadwick welcomed 26 members and 11 husbands to our meeting on the 8th October.
Fiona conducted a short business meeting. Members were reminded to look at the event boards especially the one to form a rota for visiting founder member, Gladys Rawlings, who is no longer able to come to the meetings, but would welcome visitors from the WI to deliver her County News magazine.
Fiona then introduced our speaker, Commander Richard Seymour, a fellow villager now retired from the RNAS but working as Community Relations Officer at Yeovilton, who had come to talk to us about The History and Current Operations of RNAS Yeovilton
.
Yeovilton, or HMS Heron as it is known, opened in June 1940 to train pilots for World War II. Since that war its personnel have been involved in wars in the Falkland Islands, Bosnia, Kosova, two Iraq wars and currently in Afghanistan. Their peacetime roles include search and rescue, security of gas and oil rigs, anti-drug operations, disaster relief and anti-piracy. They are also called upon to assist in times of national emergency, such as the foot and mouth crisis and the firemen’s strike.
Having previously been the home of the Navy's Sea Harrier aircraft, Yeovilton is now solely a helicopter base flying Sea King and Lynx helicopters. At present they are operational in Afghanistan where most of their flying duties are at night, hence the reason we sometimes hear helicopters flying over Hardington at night as they are training for night flying!
2009 will be the 100th birthday of the Fleet Air Arm and a new exhibition of 100 years of naval aviation is being prepared at the Fleet Air Arm Museum at Yeovilton, which should prove an interesting visit. I for one look forward to visiting, as my grandfather came over from Australia to fly with the RNAS during the First World War before the formation of the Royal Air Force.
Commander Seymour then answered questions from the floor before the vote of thanks given by one of our visitors, Rod Heal. We had all enjoyed an interesting and informative talk about a part of our arm forces that are based close by and to which some of us have a close personal connection.
Our next meeting on the 12th November will be our AGM. There will be wine and nibbles, and Sue Phillips will bring her Phoenix Cards. The Christmas cards are sold in aid of Cancer Research and Children's Hospice UK.
We look forward to seeing as many members as possible.
Rachel Moulden, 23rd October 2008.