The Royal Air Force Association (RAFA) were joined by 8F(1st City of Coventry) Air Cadet Squadron when they gathered for their annual ceremony of remembrance in their memorial garden this year.

Twelve cadets from 8F (1st City of Coventry) Squadron were honoured to be invited to join with current members of the RAFA to honour past members in a ceremony of blessing for the RAFA Memorial Garden on Sunday 4 July. The blessing was conducted by the RAFA’s Reverend Frank Seldon and comprised of memories of those who had died, intermingled with prayers and passages from the Bible.

Also important to the event was the thanks to former Secretary and President of the Coventry branch RAFA who passed away last year. Iris Taylor MBE, an honour she gained for services to the RAFA, had her contribution marked by a special memorial stone laid in the garden.

All the Cadets present felt the emotion of the day, something which Sergeant Atkinson, a member of 8F Squadron’s staff, felt was a key part of their participation.

“It’s easy for us all to forget sometimes that the names on memorials were real people. Ceremonies like this help remind us to think of the people behind the names and show respect to them. It’s important that the Cadets take part in these sorts of events so that future generations will remember our former service personnel.”

On a more upbeat note, the cadets also had the chance to mingle and talk to the ex-service personnel who form the current membership of the RAFA. A memorable conversation was had with one former WAAF who reminisced about her days as a Cadet and how she had met Princess Elizabeth, now Her Majesty The Queen, at the unveiling of the Godiva Statue.

Cadet Lucy Smith, a fairly new member of 8F Squadron, was very enthusiastic about getting to chat to the RAFA members. “It was really interesting to talk to them about their memories because you can find out things that you wouldn’t otherwise. We don’t often get the chance to talk to older people and we all had a really good chat.”

Article Submitted by:-
Camilla Preece SMCO- 8F (1st City of Coventry) Sqn
09 Jul 10