Page 323 - They Also Served

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David Hawkins 1959.
The son of an RAF group captain,
David Richard Hawkins was born in
Streatham, South London, on 5th April
1937. Educated at Downside School,
he was called up for national service
in 1955 as an airman gunner with the
RAF Regiment. Quickly selected for
officer training, he received a short
service commission in 1956. After a
period with No.37 Squadron in Cyprus,
a light anti-aircraft unit defending RAF Akrotiri during the Cyprus Emergency, he was awarded a permanent commission. RAF Regiment regular commission officers were trained at the Royal Military Academy from 1947 until 1959 and Hawkins was the last to be commissioned from Sandhurst before training was moved to the RAF College, Cranwell.
Returning to Cyprus, his airfield defence squadron was redeployed to Singapore. After serving as ADC to the chief of the air staff, he was an instructor at Cranwell before returning to Singapore, qualifying as a parachutist and heading the regiment’s parachute display team. When the British withdrew from Singapore in 1969, Hawkins was transferred to the air attache’s office in Bangkok, where he monitored the Vietnam War. Assuming command of No.37 Squadron, based at RAF Catterick, the unit provided troops to guard RAF sites in Northern Ireland then, in 1974, he took command of the Queen’s Colour Squadron. Famed for its continuous silent drill manoeuvres, the squadron provides escorts for the RAF Queen’s Colour on ceremonial occasions. During Hawkins’ time in command, the squadron also appeared on Bruce Forsyth’s light entertainment show, The Generation Game. At the end of his tour, Hawkins was appointed MBE.
A series of staff appointments followed, punctuated with command of the RAF Regiment depot in Catterick. Hawkins was responsible for the security of nuclear weapons convoys in the UK, commandant-general of the RAF Regiment, and director-general of RAF Security before retiring in March 1993. From 1993 to 1998, he was Yeoman Usher of the Black Rod, responsible for running the ceremonial staff
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