Page 17 - GM Wing 2020 Yearbook

The Veterans Who Keep Giving

Many Air Cadets squadrons have
military veterans on their staff or
Civilian Committees whose pass on
their experience and enthusiasm.
One such person is George Davies
DFM, serving Squadron President
at 80 (Bolton) Squadron, now aged
97. During the first Lockdown, as
the national marked the 75th anniversary of Victory in Europe Day, Lancashire Life magazine published an article
about Mr Davies who served in the RAF for 40 years.
Born in 1923 in East London, Mr Davies saw his home destroyed during the Blitz. Aged 18 in 1941, he joined the RAF
and trained to become a navigator on the Lancaster bombers, flying 30 sorties over Germany. He was awarded the
Distinguished Flying Medal by King George VI in 1943.

In 1972, he moved to Bolton to run the RAF Recruitment Office and became involved in the ATC. He started the
squadron band, served as an Instructor, Squadron Chairman and is now
President. He is still a regular visitor and still does talks for cadets about his
RAF experiences. Particular favourite topics for cadets are his wartime
activities and flying the Royal Family.

He brings to life Air Navigation as part of Aviation Studies when he talks to
cadets about navigating at night in a Lancaster! Mr Davies has been part of
the Squadron for 48 years and still gives so generously to support the
cadets.
You can read the full article from Lancashire Life here:

https://bit.ly/39ZLWC8
Two weeks into the first
lockdown, a 99-year-old Army
veteran, Captain Sir Tom Moore, captured the hearts of the nation by
raising £39million by initially walking 100 laps of his garden to raise money
for the NHS Charities Together, and inspired millions of people to come
together to support others during the global crisis.

Captain Tom as he is affectionately known was born in Keighley in April
1920 and, after Grammar School trained as a Civil Engineer before joining
the army at the start of World War 2 serving in Burma and India , after the
war he was an instructor at the Armoured Fighting Vehicle School at
Bovington and after a distinguished career he retired and lived in Kent
before moving in with his family in Bedfordshire early in the 21st century.

Despite having hip surgery after a fall he decided to raise money for the NHS through walking in his garden during
the first lockdown. The initial target of the fundraising was £1000.00 and this was quickly surpassed within 24
hours, he adjusted his target of 100 laps of the garden to 200 after completing his first task 2 weeks ahead of
schedule. Captain Tom’s exploits quickly caught the mood of the nation and his heroic efforts raised millions of
pounds for the NHS.