RAF Funerals in an Earlier Era
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Why oh why would I wanna be anywhere else?
Posts: 1,305
Likes: 0
Received 1 Like
on
1 Post
At least on the graduation parade they're all at attention rather than the 'some are, some aren't' situation at the graveside.
Perhaps it's the same crew that have had a bit more drill practice
Perhaps it's the same crew that have had a bit more drill practice
Thread Starter
definitely commissioned when he did his course in Rhodesia.
The man to whom I referred was commissioned in July 1951, which supposes that he went into 4 FTS as an APO.
Changing tack slightly, in QRs & ACIs, there used to be a Section dealing with funerals etc. There was a published 'scale' as to how many people you could have in your funeral cortage and it depended on your rank of course. Naturally, a Marshal had a shed load of people and an AC2 had anybody they could find with nothing else to do. Seriously, however, the conduct of service funerals was treated with much dignity, as the photographs show.
At one station, where one of my secondary duties was O i/c Guard of Honour, we had an airman's wardrobe, to which four handles had been fitted and funerals could be rehearsed. The MO provided the weight of the deceased and the wardrobe was ballasted accordingly - none of this wheeled trolley nonsense. We practiced lifting, lowering and carrying the 'coffin' - the difficult bit was going up or down a slope and steps could be a bit tricky as well. It could also be a bit difficult turning the coffin around when leaving church, especially if it was a bit narrow. Some non-conformist churches with no central aisle, also caused the odd hiccup, hence a prior recce was made!
Black humour prevailed on one occasion where there was to be a cremation. Some wag pointed out we couldn't rehearse the cremation as there were no replacement wardrobes available.
Old Duffer
Changing tack slightly, in QRs & ACIs, there used to be a Section dealing with funerals etc. There was a published 'scale' as to how many people you could have in your funeral cortage and it depended on your rank of course. Naturally, a Marshal had a shed load of people and an AC2 had anybody they could find with nothing else to do. Seriously, however, the conduct of service funerals was treated with much dignity, as the photographs show.
At one station, where one of my secondary duties was O i/c Guard of Honour, we had an airman's wardrobe, to which four handles had been fitted and funerals could be rehearsed. The MO provided the weight of the deceased and the wardrobe was ballasted accordingly - none of this wheeled trolley nonsense. We practiced lifting, lowering and carrying the 'coffin' - the difficult bit was going up or down a slope and steps could be a bit tricky as well. It could also be a bit difficult turning the coffin around when leaving church, especially if it was a bit narrow. Some non-conformist churches with no central aisle, also caused the odd hiccup, hence a prior recce was made!
Black humour prevailed on one occasion where there was to be a cremation. Some wag pointed out we couldn't rehearse the cremation as there were no replacement wardrobes available.
Old Duffer
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: 59°09N 002°38W (IATA: SOY, ICAO: EGER)
Age: 80
Posts: 812
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
At Akrotiri in the mid 1960s it was always amusing when we changed from blues to KD in the spring - the first day it always seemed to rain therefore there were umpteen blokes in KD shorts and those awful blue raincoats. It looked like a convention of flashers.
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: REDDITCH
Age: 60
Posts: 1
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
This is the funeral of my Grandad Cyril G Keyte (Kit) if anyone has any memories of their time based at Thornhill in 52 or knew him, could you please contact me. Kind Regards
Vicki
Vicki
OD
Your recollection brought back several memories. One of which was the pall bearers almost beating the deceased into the grave!!! This was despite having rehearsed the procedure the previous evening in a deserted graveyard in the back-end of beyond with the clouds scudding across the moon ... brrrrrr!
scarred for life, Sir, scarred for life!
Your recollection brought back several memories. One of which was the pall bearers almost beating the deceased into the grave!!! This was despite having rehearsed the procedure the previous evening in a deserted graveyard in the back-end of beyond with the clouds scudding across the moon ... brrrrrr!
scarred for life, Sir, scarred for life!
Fred did the first half of my grading back in 87. Several very pleasant hours floating above Hants and Wilts in a Chipmunk, chatting about all sorts of aviation stuff, very little to do with the task at hand.
Join Date: Jun 2021
Location: Redditch
Posts: 1
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Cyril G Keyte
Thank you for seemingly being the only person on the internet that has information regarding Cyril Keyte! I have found him in my family tree (My maternal great grandmother's first husband) and it's been interesting to learn his history. If anyone has any further information about him, please contact me. I would love to know more about his life as he seems to be a bit of a mystery in records.
Jeebasaurus,
You could apply for Keyte's Record of Service through the Veterans Agency. Might take a while just now as a few public servants are still in hiding in some places post CV19.
Old Duffer
You could apply for Keyte's Record of Service through the Veterans Agency. Might take a while just now as a few public servants are still in hiding in some places post CV19.
Old Duffer
