“Here, I’ve got a life”
RAF veteran Ian Oldfield was living alone and at a very low ebb when he signed up to the RAF Association’s Connections for Life service. Little did he know the impact that decision would have.
Your RAF Family History
What's your RAF Family history? By September 1945 the RAF had grown from relatively small pre-war numbers to over 940,000 serving members. Tens of thousands more had seen service and been killed or discharged, so it isn’t surprising that many of ...
Battle of Britain: pilots’ memories
In 1953, on the eve of the 13th anniversary of the Battle of Britain, veterans met the then-new Commander-in-Chief of Fighter Command. Between lunch and reminiscences, Air Mail’s editor spoke to a handful of pilots for a brief interview while the ...
How Meteorology Helps The RAF
Tomorrow’s weather today The Mobile Meteorological Unit provides critical frontline Meteorology support to operational, strategic and safety decisions. You might struggle to even bang in the first tent peg on an operation if the ground is frozen or flooded. ...
Warren’s story
“I’d gone from being a serviceman fighting on the front line, to fighting to put food on the table.” 48-year-old Warren King, from West Yorkshire, served in the RAF for 15 years. A Senior Aircraftman, working in close protection, his ...
Donald Campbell: “I wanted to see a bigger world”
We spoke to Warrant Officer Donald Campbell about his childhood in Jamaica, life in the RAF, and his new project which highlights the contributions of British African and Caribbean people to the UK. Warrant Officer Donald Campbell was a Survival Equipment ...
Praise for veterans’ resilience programme
Military veterans who attended Loughborough University’s first veterans' resilience programme have described it as ‘life changing’. Created by the University and the Royal Air Forces Association, the mental wellbeing support programme invited small groups of veterans onto campus for a five-day ...
The first early warning radar network
In the month that marked 77 years since the end of the war in Europe, Association member and former radar operator Vera Ladds (pictured above) spoke to us about the vital work she and her colleagues undertook during WWII. “When war ...
Royal Flying Corps
At the dawn of aerial combat in WWI, the Royal Flying Corps was operating at the edge of the envelope. Many Royal Flying Corps airmen later joined the Royal Air Forces Association - and told truly hair-raising tales of how they ...
Founders’ Day
Celebrities, serving RAF personnel and Second World War veterans joined staff, volunteers and branch members from the RAF Association for Founders' Day on Friday as the charity made wellbeing calls to 5,000 veterans, widows and widowers as part of its national ...
Falklands: crash sites and caracaras
Former British Navy and RAF pilot David Morgan DSC was the most successful British fighter pilot of the Falklands War, and the last to be involved in a dogfight. Here he writes about his return to the Falklands, their wildlife – ...
Veterans’ Resilience Programme
Applications now open for new veterans' resilience programme for East Midlands region. Open to veterans from the East Midlands who have served in any branch of the Armed Forces Bespoke programme designed to enhance the mental wellbeing of attendees Funded by ...
