On Sunday 14th September, a service will be held in Moffat to commemorate the life of Air Chief Marshal Lord Hugh Dowding, architect of the Royal Air Force during the Second World War and the overseer of Fighter Command during the Battle of Britain.

The service has taken place in Moffat, Lord Dowding’s birthplace, every year for the past 35 years and is usually attended by Odette, the Lady Dowding, daughter-in-law of the late Lord Dowding and Lord Piers Dowding, his grandson.

This year, the service will take place at 2.30pm and will be led by Air Marshal Sir Roger Austin, a Trustee of the RAF Benevolent Fund. Members of the public will be made most welcome.

More details may be obtained from the RAF Benevolent Fund Office in Edinburgh on 0131 225 6421 or by email at the link below.

Every Remembrance Sunday the cadets of 1333 (Grangemouth) Squadron plant poppies on the graves of 74 young trainee pilots. The pilots died at RAF Grangemouth learning to fly the Spitfire in the early years of World War II.

On Saturday 13th September the cadets will unveil a permanent and visible tribute to those airmen: a stone memorial, some four metres long and two metres high, with the names of all the young pilots inscribed on granite plaques, alongside a full-size replica Spitfire.

Air Marshal Sir Roger Austin will unveil the memorial and the Chaplain in Chief of The Royal Air Force, the Reverend (Air Vice-Marshal) Peter Mills QHC RAF will dedicate it. A fly-past by aircraft from the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight is also planned.

If anyone would like to attend the dedication please call Bob Kemp, Director Scotland of the RAF Benevolent Fund. He can be contacted on the link below or by telephone on 0131 225 6421.

Northern Exposure was born out of an idea to help illustrate the Royal Air Force’s spectrum of operations in Scotland in pictorial format, and at the same time help raise funds for the RAF Benevolent Fund.

Published by Squadron Prints Ltd, who have a long association with the RAF, the book will launch on 13th September 2008 to coincide with the RAF Leuchars Airshow, where it will be on sale. Profits from sales of the book will be donated to the Royal Air Force Benevolent Fund.
 
Anyone interested in ordering a copy should contact Squadron Prints either via the link below, by emailing gill@squadronprints.com or on 01241 437555.

The RAF Music for Scottish Schools event, now in it’s third year, will take place over 2 days on 8th and 9th October in Stirling.

Local schools in the Stirling area will be invited to participate in music tutorials with the the Band of the RAF College Cranwell. The band will then play a concert at the MacRobert Arts Centre, Stirling University.

The concert begins at 7pm and tickets are priced at £7.50
or £5.00 concessions (U16, 60+). Tickets are available from the MacRobert Arts Centre on 01786 466666 or direct from the RAF Benevolent Fund on 0131 225 6421.

All proceeds of ticket sales will be donated to the RAF Benevolent Fund.