We are delighted to announce that our thirtieth annual reunion will take place once again at Elvington’s Yorkshire Air Museum the weekend of 15th /16th September with extra-special features.

We are very excited, and privileged, that the famed Vulcan pilot, Squadron Leader Martin Withers DFC will be our after-dinner speaker. Martin graduated in law but fell in love with flying at university. The highlight of his career with the RAF was when, in the 1982 Falklands war, he piloted the Vulcan XM607  in Operation Black Buck carrying out the longest bombing raid in British history, an 8,000 mile,16 hour round-trip from their base on Ascension Island.

There is a short ceremony at the memorial by the gate of the museum at 5.45pm followed by a reception drink at 6.00pm and a three-course sit-down meal with wine, and coffee / tea. There will be a raffle for a signed, model Black Buck Vulcan. It will be a great evening!

Tickets for the dinner are £30 for members, £40 for non-members. All are welcome and you will find the booking form on the right hand side of this page.

Tours of the museum are offered on Saturday afternoon, and a unique offer to visit the interior of “Friday the Thirteenth,” the fully restored Handley Page Halifax and the only one in the UK. The Halifax tour is limited to 12 participants at a special price of £10 each (veterans free).There is a church service in Elvington’s Holy Trinity on Sunday and a get-together at the museum afterwards with the opportunity to chat and show photographs and other memorabilia.

Martin Withers retired from the RAF in 1991, having flown over 5500 hours (2000 on Vulcans). He then flew commercial airliners and, before the last flying Vulcan was sadly grounded in 2015, acted as Air Operations Director for the “Vulcans to the Sky Trust.” Martin is now a trustee of the Yorkshire Air Museum and Allied Air Forces Memorial. He is a much sought-after speaker, and it promises to be a very special weekend, so contact us for booking details if you have not already received them and do think of bringing friends and family.

Contact us as soon as possible: info@77squadron.org.uk  or download the booking form on the right of this page.

See this YouTube film of an interview with Martin about Operation Black Buck to learn more about its significance and how exciting it was.

13th April 2018 | Categories: Uncategorised | Tags: 77 Reunion 2018