The Royal Air Force Benevolent Enterprises Limited received an extra boost in ensuring that the concert at The Symphony Hall in Birmingham to celebrate the 70 th Anniversary of The Battle of Briatin was a success as Cadets and Staff from No 163 (Coventry-Phoenix) Squadron were on hand to provide concert goers with their programme and flag requirements.

Arriving at The Symphony Hall, those attending the concert were met with a smile, a warm welcome and the opportunity to purchase a programme which detailed how the Mass Bands of The Royal Air Force would tell the story of The Battle of Britain in music and song.

With the cadets split into teams and with the programmes flying out of their hands, it wasn’t long before regular re-stock journeys were being made and with a note being made of which team required the re-stock as every year the teams try to see who can sell the most. With the rate of sales on an all time high, Flight Lieutenant Vile RAFVR(T) formed a team and joined in.

As the first half of the performance got under way the cadets had a chance to have a well earned break and a bit to eat, during which time they counted their takings before reporting to a member of the The Royal Air Force Benevolent Fund with their grand total.

This year however, there was to be a surprise as the winning total was collected by Team Vile, who very kindly donated the annual prize to the cadet team that had sold the most programmes.

Once all the totals gathered, the cadets received the news that they had been waiting for as every year the challenge is thrown down to them to see if they can sell more programmes the following year. This year was to be no exception as the cadets not only met this challenge but they well and truly beat it by raising a total of £1,800 on last years £1,700.

As the first half of the concert drew to a close, the cadets got back into their positions for the now traditional flag selling frenzy, which ensured that the concert attendees could waive their Union Flags at the opportune moment during the second half of the concert.

With the interval coming to an end and with flags in hand, the cadets and staff took the seats that had been reserved for them in “The Gods” to watch the second half of the concert and this year the seats were even higher up than they had been in previous years.

Having received grateful thanks and a rousing round of applause for the sterling work that the cadets had done, it only seemed a short time later that the Mass Bands of The Royal Air Force began to wind the audience up to the moment that they had been waiting for, the mass waiving of the flags.

With the entire auditorium on their feet all that could be seen were a sea of flags being waived in perfect time to the music.

Flight Lieutenant Les Vile, Officer Commanding No 163 (Coventry-Phoenix) Squadron said. “the cadets have once again done Themselves, The Squadron and The Air Cadet Organisation proud. I was very impressed with the way in which all the cadets applied themselves to doing what had to be done and as always their behaviour and the way in which they conducted themselves was exemplary”.