Document Type
Newsletter
Publication/Presentation Date
1-2026
Reflection
This time last year, I wrote that the New Year bought the UK very cold weather (down to -5C or 23F here but colder in other parts of the UK). The same thing has happened this year – our lowest in the UK West Midlands was -6C overnight but it was -12C in other places.
This is such a contrast to the weather the cadets found in Florida. My father arrived in October 1941 and spent Christmas at Fort Myers Beach where he wrote that the temperature reached 95F (35C). Groups of cadets went to Miami Beach at weekends to enjoy the sun and sand and the swimming pool was essential at Riddle Field. But it wasn’t all fun – Florida thunderstorms were a regular feature, and the Florida fog could be notorious. Both these weather features caused airplanes to crash and sadly, on a few occasions, cadets were killed as a result.
Chandler Mock, a student at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU), is writing short biographies for the cadets who lie at Oak Ridge Cemetery, Arcadia, and these are being added to the 5BFTS digital archive hosted by ERAU so that their names live on. These are just some of the stories, documents and photographs that are being preserved for future generations. People are asking what their grandfathers/great-grandfathers/great-uncles, did during WW2. Thanks to this archive, if they became a pilot at 5BFTS, their descendants will be able to find out!
On January 1, 1943, the New Year Editorial in Flypaper said, “And what of 1943? Its history has yet to be written, but this we know, that each one of us will play his or her part in the writing of that history. Let us approach the coming year with our sleeves rolled up and with our heads and hearts held high. For a New Year’s resolution, let us take: In victories we shall not become too confident: in defeats we shall not be disheartened: in work we shall be faithful, that the final Victory shall be ours”.
And it was! And what of 2026? Its history has yet to be written, but each one of us will be playing our part in that making that history whatever it turns out to be. With best wishes to everyone for a Happy and Peaceful New Year.
Scholarly Commons Citation
Harding, J. A. (2026). 5 BFTS Association Newsletter No. 33 - New Year 2026. , (). Retrieved from https://commons.erau.edu/bfts-clewiston-newsletters/32
