Document Type
News Article
Publication/Presentation Date
3-2022
Reflection
Covid is still with us, and cases are rapidly increasing as the latest variant takes hold (fortunately, although more infectious, much less deadly and incapacitating). Occasionally a Covid story makes headline news, but just now, most people will be thinking about the people who live in the Ukraine as we hear about and see pictures of the devastating scenes in their country. We live in relative safety thanks in part to those who fought for and protected our countries during WW2.
But it was not without cost and what follows is a story about a group of nine school friends who spent their weekends and holidays cycling, hiking, swimming, playing tennis, etc, and eventually, they all volunteered to join the RAF. Eight were accepted including Ron Middleton. I have already written about Ron (Newsletters March and September 2021) an Arnold Scheme cadet at Carlstrom. Of those nine friends, only two survived – Ron and the young man who was rejected by the RAF but went on to command an anti-aircraft battery. The seven who died served in Bomber Command, Fighter Command Training Command and Costal Command and died between February 1942 and October 1944. One helped to sink the German battleship Bismarck. Thanks to John Middleton, Ron’s son, for sharing this story, written by Ron as a Remembrance Day tribute.
In the UK, we are donating time, money, goods, homes and service to help our European friends, and in one of many gestures of solidarity in this country, people are decorating our post boxes in blue and yellow as a visual reminder to the suffering in another European country. The post box in the picture is in Worcestershire. It helps us remember……..
With love, prayers and best wishes to you all.
‘Their efforts to preserve the freedom of the world were not in vain and will never be forgotten’
Scholarly Commons Citation
Harding, J. A. (2022). 5 BFTS Association Newsletter No 22 - March. , (). Retrieved from https://commons.erau.edu/bfts-clewiston-newsletters/6