BBMF hangar tea party 9th July
The BBMF hangar tea party with Dakota ZA947 as a backdrop. (All Photos: Clive Rowley)
The BBMF held its annual tea party in the Flight’s hangar on Wednesday 9th July. The BBMF hangar makes an incredible venue for a tea party with the beautifully arranged tables surrounded by the BBMF aircraft in a setting like no other. Although it has to be said that in the middle of a heatwave, with the temperature outside at 31 degrees C, an uncooled metal hangar is perhaps not ideal!
The event was attended by fewer Second World War veterans than in previous years, the heat putting some off and their number now sadly dwindling. The veterans present were:
Bert Hammond – Mid-upper gunner on Lancasters with 514 Squadron, aged 101.
Dr James Burt – RAF Bomber Command Station Medical Officer at RAF Waddington, aged 104.
Harry Birdsall – Royal Army Service Corps driver and D-Day veteran, aged 100. Harry was part of Operation Barleycorn, which liberated Belsen concentration camp in April 1945.
Right: Veteran Bert Hammond, aged 101, (2nd from right at the nearest table) flew a full tour of bomber operations as a mid-upper gunner with 514 Squadron.
All of the full-time BBMF personnel and 30 of the BBMF volunteer guides, many of whom are more recent RAF veterans themselves, were also present, along with friends and partners of the BBMF, such as guests from the International Bomber Command Centre, the Mark Long Trust, the Petwood Hotel and Tattershall Lakes Country Park. The event provided a rare opportunity for all of the BBMF personnel to get together at a busy time of the year when the Flight is working seven days a week, and for the volunteer guides, the guests and the RAF personnel to spend time together. Everyone very much enjoyed chatting and tucking into the marvellous spread.
The Tea Party is funded entirely by the RAF Memorial Flight Official Club, although Lincolnshire Tea and Coffee Company donate their time, tea, coffee and provide some of the crockery. Other volunteers help out with setting up and serving tea and coffee. The BBMF is very grateful that the financial support from the Official Club allows an event like this to take place when it would otherwise be impossible.
