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Association Newsletter - 2008 |
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ASSOCIATION REUNION AT RAF COSFORD, SATURDAY 28 JUNE 2008
The next reunion of the BRIXMIS Association will take place on Saturday 28th June, at RAF Cosford, Shifnal, Shropshire TF11 8UP. The format for the day will be:
1030 -1100 Members and guests assemble in a roped-off area of the Museum. Coffee and tea available 1100 -1115 Welcome by Chairman and Secretary's Announcements 1115 -1300 Own arrangements or Cold War Museum guided tours 1300 -1400 Finger buffet in our roped-off area 1400 -1600 Own arrangements or Museum tours.
The cost of the event will be £9.00 per head. There will be a finger buffet, and a bar available on cash payment. Guided tours are approximately £2.00 per person, in maximum groups of 12. Please indicate on the return if you wish to participate, before or after lunch, and we will book guides. Payment on the day.
The camp is located just south of the M54, junction 3. There is a main line railway station (Albrighton?) approximately 500m east of the main gate. Drivers may need to collect a vehicle pass at the guardroom. Please therefore carry some form of photograph ID with you, e.g. passport or driver’s licence.
HON SECRETARY’S NOTES
Since the AGM, we have recruited five new members:
Pete Trenerry - RAF driver 1981-84 Gordon Rodhouse - RASC driver 1961-63 Bill Wheeler - RASC clerk 1952-53 Danny Williamson - RASC driver 1954-55 Paddy Hayes - RASC driver 1953-56
Unfortunately, we have three deaths to report:
Freddy Bonnart - Interpreter and GSO3 1946-49. Died on 23 April 2008. Chris Christopher - RAF Electrical Engineer 1960-62. Date unknown. Ian Wellsted - GSO1 1960-62. Date unknown.
The Chairman sent a letter of condolence to Freddy’s brother on behalf of the Association.
BATTLEFIELD TOUR 2006 – PHOTOGRAPHS
The Chairman still has a few copies of the BRIXMIS Battlefield Tour Photographs 2006 on CD. These have been paid for by members who attended the events on 16 Sep 06, but because of data loss when the Chairman’s computer crashed, not all orders have been fulfilled. If you are still awaiting a copy, please contact the Chairman and the disc will be forwarded to you.
COMMEMORATIVE ITEMS
The artwork for the final item, the glass paperweight, has been completed (already paid for by the Association). The Chairman will be sending out in late Apr/early May a letter, by ‘e’ or ‘snail’ mail to all members who ordered cufflinks, brooches, umbrellas, paperweights or car badges, with details of their order and payment. We have to raise 50% of the overall cost prior to the items being produced. Details regarding the medal and framed crests will also follow.
PREMIUM BONDS
We now have a Member of the Committee (not currently serving in HM Forces) who has agreed to be the Bond Holder. We are arranging suitable paperwork and back-up for the Bond, and as soon as that is complete, and the individual and the Committee are satisfied all safeguards have been covered the Bond, for £1,000.00, will be purchased.
NATIONAL HERITAGE LOTTERY FUND – CHICKSANDS
The Defence Intelligence Museum at Chicksands has spent most of this year arranging the overall status of the Museum, regarding its ownership by the MOD/Defence E states and the rights of the Museum to remain in that location in the future. This is a most important factor with regard to any National Heritage Lottery (NHL) Grant application since, if the organisation for which the grant is being applied is not the actual land owner, the NHL will not consider awarding any grant, if there is a likelihood of the organisation being evicted or having to move away. We are waiting for this procedure to be formalised and then we can begin the application grant process.
CHARITY STATUS
The Committee has looked again at the question of achieving Charity Status for the Association, particularly in support of our fundraising for the Museum at Chicksands. However, the Charity Commission rules have changed and although we are correctly described as a non-profit making organisation, we do not come anywhere near the requirement of achieving an annual income of at least £15,000. Therefore this status will no longer be pursued.
COMMITTEE MEMBERS
We may be looking for one or two more Committee Members to join us at the AGM in October, in particular a RAF Officer. The overall commitment is not onerous, but in principle you need to be able to attend two 6-monthly meetings (usually the first Thursday in March & September) in London. If there are any volunteers who would like to be considered, then please contact either the Hon Secretary or the Chairman.
THE FESTIVAL OF REMEMBRANCE – SATURDAY 8 NOV 2008
At the last AGM, the Committee was asked to investigate the possibility of obtaining seats at the annual Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall in London. We have been told by the Royal British Legion (RBL) that the Festival evening performance is only open to members of the RBL and that we will be unable to obtain any seats for the Association. Individual BRIXMIS Association Members who are also members of the RBL can apply through their local RBL branch. However, we have been told that we might be able to obtain up to 15 tickets for the Association for the afternoon performance, which is identical except that no members of the Royal Family are present. If you would like to be on the BRIXMIS Association list for one of these tickets, would you please inform the Hon Secretary no later than Friday 27 June, and also state whether you are a ‘definite’ or ‘possible’ bidder. We will run a reserve list and keep you up to date on progress. ‘First come, first served’.
BRIXMIS ARTICLE – SENATOR FF
David Richards attended the Committee meeting in March, and explained that he is a freelance writer, principally for Classic Cars magazine, who had found out about the Mission through his interest in General Motors cars – and in particular those of Eastern European usage. He started to research BRIXMIS about 5-6 years ago for a possible article.
He is producing two articles on the Senator FF, and both Practical Classics and Classic Military Vehicles magazines have shown interest. The former needs 4-6 pictures and about 600 words, and that was why he had set up the meeting recently at Cosford, to view our Senator on display there; plus, a Belgian collector had promised to drive over one that he possessed – but unfortunately it broke down en route! David is going over to Belgium in the near future to complete the assignment.
He produced a draft copy of the narrative that he has already written, and with a few minor comments from the Committee members, this was accepted. He also passed out a CD containing photographs from the recent Cosford meeting, attended by Dave Picton, Sandy Warne and Bill Moss with the restored G-Wagen.
The Chairman thanked him for the briefing and sight of the article, and requested notification of the date of publication, so that it could be advertised to the membership.
ARCHIVE FILMS
John Elliott has reported that the process of ‘weeding’ is going well. He sent out an email some time ago asking if anyone would like to off-load some films if they were experiencing difficulties, and only one member had taken up the offer. One thing we have all found is that there were a lot more poor films than expected; the target reduction in the film sifting was to retain 10-20%. The total is therefore likely to be less than that.
John will send out another ‘round robin’ to request sifted films to be returned to him, for onward transmission to Chicksands MIM for storage. Anyone who wishes to take advantage of this at the Reunion, is encouraged to do so.
PAUL ABRAM
Our Honorary Chaplain, Paul Abram, has now retired as Chaplain to the Chapel Royal (St Peter ad Vincula) HM Tower of London. He was honoured by HM The Queen as a Member of the Royal Victorian Order (MVO) in the 2008 New Year’s Honours List.
RMP ASSOCIATION - AUSTRALIA
The Hon Secretary was contacted some time ago by Brian Griffiths, Secretary of the ‘REDCAPS’ Association , based in Perth, Western Australia, requesting assistance with a project on the Cold War. Their association contains many former ‘White Mice’, who ‘looked after’ SOXMIS in the British Sector of West Germany. He was put in touch with Ken Bywater, and to date, the BRIXMIS WA group of Ken, Margo Collins and Danny Daniels, together with their partners, have attended two functions hosted by the ‘Redcaps’. There is a five page article on the Mission in their latest Newsletter; anyone interested in receiving a copy should contact the Hon Secretary.
AGM AND REUNION
The AGM and Reunion will be held on Saturday 25th October, once again at RAF Northolt, by kind arrangement of WO Ian Jebson. He has been informed that some of the mess members who joined us last year so enjoyed themselves, that they have booked the date into their diaries for this year! Frank Naylor’s film went down very well, and it was agreed that he should be asked to provide something similar again, if possible.
Sandy Warne has block-booked 24 rooms in the Days Inn hotel for the AGM. She will try to get five more doubles, just in case. Anyone wishing to book a room through Sandy should telephone her on: 07713 252521. Costs for B&B are £69.00 per night per room. Also, Dave Read can arrange a local photographer to take photos on the night, who is willing to work for nothing and only charge for the prints! This was agreed as a good idea and Sandy will arrange.
The return for the Reunion is attached. Please make sure that it is with The Secretary by Wednesday 18th June at the latest, as the list of persons and their vehicles must be sent to the Guardroom at the earliest opportunity.
Remember, NIL returns are required in order to maintain your ‘active’ status in the data base. Those of you who receive the Newsletter by email can send in your NIL return by that means as well, saving on paper and stamps!!
Orders for memorabilia should be sent directly to the Chairman, not to the Secretary.
Lastly, please delete where appropriate and requested, particularly for the Festival of Remembrance!!
To: The Honorary Secretary From: ……………………………… The BRIXMIS Association (BLOCK CAPITALS PLEASE) 144 Sandyhurst Lane Ashford, Kent TN25 4NX
I wish/will not be able* to attend the BRIXMIS Association reunion at RAF Cosford on Saturday 28th June. I will be accompanied by the following person(s): My vehicle details are as follows *: (make) ………… (colour) ……… (reg no) …………… I wish/do not wish* to take part in a guided tour – before/after* lunch. I require a BRIXMIS lapel badge, for me and/or my wife/partner (£1 each)*. My/his/her name is: I would like to attend the Festival of Remembrance in November 2008* *Delete as appropriate I enclose a cheque to the value of £………… (£9.00 per head (+ badge(s) if appropriate)) made out to: The BRIXMIS Association.
BRIXMIS GOODS
I wish to purchase the following item(s):
BRIXMIS polyester tie (single crossed flags motif) (navy blue or maroon) at £6 each BRIXMIS silk tie (single crossed flags motif) (navy blue or maroon) at £17.50 each
BRIXMIS Mouse Mat at £5.50 each
BRIXMIS Plaque at £24.50 each
Compilation Video (59 minutes of actual footage from tours) at £6.50 each Compilation DVD (59 minutes of actual footage from tours) at £9.00 each
BRIXMIS Blazer Badge at £15.50 each
Souvenir Print (un-mounted) at £7.50 each
BRIXMIS Standard Brief (PowerPoint presentation) on CD at £4.50 each
DVD of interviews from the Calico TV programme at £16.50 each.
Baseball Cap, with BRIXMIS crossed flags motif (various colours) at £17.50 each
I enclose a cheque to the value of £……… for the above, made out to: The BRIXMIS Association
NB: Please add 50p for postage in Europe and £1 for USA and Canada
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