Description
In this delightful and subtly humorous memoir, Joan Blackburn shares her reflections on four years of service in the RAF from 1959 to 1963.
Transcribed from an account she wrote in 1964, while her memories were still fresh and free from the distortions of hindsight, this evocative glimpse into the fifties and sixties will be treasured by anyone who served in the Royal Air Force during that era. It is particularly resonant for former WRAF personnel who recall RAF establishments at Wilmslow, Hereford, Medmenham, and Rheindahlen where Joan served. However, a military background is not required to enjoy Joan's heartfelt stories of her youthful adventures in uniform, as the rock and roll era of the fifties transitioned into the beat music boom of the early sixties. During their off-duty hours, Joan and her teenage friends danced to the music of Bill Haley, Cliff Richard, and the Beatles.
Joan holds a small yet significant place in RAF history as a member of the very first female team from the RAF to participate in the 100-mile Nijmegen Marches in 1962—a physically demanding four-day event that had previously been prohibited for RAF women. Her vivid account of this wonderfully friendly international gathering, featuring military and civilian teams from around the globe, began in 1909 and has been hosted in Nijmegen since 1924. It showcases the pride and accomplishment she and her WRAF colleagues felt upon completing this challenge.
Yet, this is merely one episode in a memoir rich with affectionate sketches of the people and places Joan encountered during her four years in the RAF.
Joan's enthusiasm for the Nijmegen event, known in Holland as the Vierdaagse, led her to return many times in the following years as the leader of various troops of teenage girls from the ATC. Later, after rejoining the RAF as an administrator, she led numerous squads of both male and female cadets, whom she enjoyed introducing to the event and who will undoubtedly remember her along with their sore feet afterwards!
Details
Publisher - Woodfield Publishing Ltd
Language - English
Perfect Bound
Contributors
By author
Joan Blackburn
Published Date - 2008-12-19
ISBN - 9781846830716
Dimensions - 23.4 x 15.6 x 1.1 cm
Page Count - 190
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