83rd Entry

John Morris RIP

Completely out of the blue on the 8th September Ivor had a telephone call from Mim, the widow of John Morris (681955, 1 Wing, Instruments). Mim told Ivor that John died from a brain tumour on 18th July 2007, but had suffered strokes before that. Mim cared for him in his last months at home.

From Halton John went to RAF Marham as a Junior Technician Instrument Nav Fitter on ‘V’ Bombers (Valiant) along with Dave Taylor. Dave recalled after hearing about Ivor’s contact with Min that John went into the instrument lab whilst he, Dave, went onto 214 Sqd. They lost touch after Marham!

Subsequently, John went aircrew and qualified as an NCO AEOp (Air Electronics Operator) on Shackleton’s. Later, John was commissioned and converted to Air Traffic Control eventually retiring as a Squadron Leader in 1986. John and Mim lived at Lichfield where Mim still lives.

Mim is a volunteer at the National Arboretum and advised Ivor that she would be on duty during the morning of Saturday, 24th September when 83rd entry members attending the annual reunion in Telford were hoping to make a visit to the National Memorial at Alrewas.

The Arboretum visit was duly arranged and our members were able to meet Mim for the first time at Alrewas (see 2011 Reunion Report).

Dave Lincoln

On 14th January 2011 Myra Lincoln sent us an ‘e’ mail to tell us that Dave had successfully undergone surgery at Queen’s Hospital, Romford the previous day to remove an aneurysm from his head and have a stent inserted. Immediately following his op, Dave was recovering in the High Dependency Unit of the Neuro ward and when Myra visited him for a short while in the evening he was very comfortable and able to chat and had something to eat, so all the signs were looking good. Looking forward to a swift recovery period and Dave returning home after 10 days; Myra reflected on the knowledge they had to go through it all again to remove a second aneurysm in six months time.

A couple of weeks later on 23rd January Myra wrote to say that David had not recovered from his operation as well as they had hoped and he had suffered a mini stroke. Fortunately Dave was in the A & E Department at Southend Hospital when he had the stroke and a doctor attended to him within seconds and he was admitted to the Acute Stroke Unit at the Hospital. Dave had been feeling very poorly all week and hadn’t been eating but thankfully he regained his speech and mobility. After investigations were completed and some answers emerged about his condition, happily Dave returned home on the afternoon of 1st February and although tired, Myra said he was feeling fine.

Dave and Myra thanked everyone for their cards and kind messages and they are both hoping there will be no more health scares so they can get on and enjoy some of the things they had planned for their Golden Wedding year.

Tony Gassner

For those unaware, on 26th July 2011 Tony advised us that he has returned to South Africa from his assignment in Mozambique. Tony will be staying in South Africa for the foreseeable future and apparently, all he will miss is the mangoes.

Ivor John

After returning from the Entry Reunion, on 27th September 2011 I had a note from Ivor to let me know that he had come out of hospital and was back at home annoying Margaret as usual. He had suffered a pulmonary embolism (blood clots on his lungs). He is now on warfarin for life but the medics have told him that’s better than death, so he has accepted the deal.

Ivor and Margaret are sorry they missed the Reunion in Telford because they were looking forward to everything that had been planned. Here’s to the next one!

Paul Breacker

Paul Breacker got in touch on 16th October 2011 to say he has recently returned to the UK after some 40 odd years in South Africa. Paul spent one ‘term’ with the 83rd after failing to pass finals with the 82nd. He is gradually settling into life here in the UK again and getting used to much more liberal use of the Internet so he has started to delve into the past and track his misspent youth and is particularly keen to contact ex. brats, Ken Butcher in particular.

I put Paul in touch with Ken and they have since corresponded with each other. Paul will be following up on a much wider basis later but he will be happy to hear from anyone who wishes to contact him.