A Father and Son sit feeding the Swans beside the river in Stratford-upon-Avon. This famous town, the home of the bard, was chosen as the venue for the OCA 50th Airfield Opening Anniversary UK reunion. In the 'Heart of England', Stratford fitted the bill perfectly for a central location with lot's to do and see during the daytime. The first participants arrived during the day on Friday 19th June and immediately set about taking in the ambience. The remainder were due in the evening and on Saturday.

Saturday 20th June 2015 and the reunion participants take in the sights of Stratford-upon-Avon. What better place to celebrate our own 50 years of history than in the home town of one of Britain's most historical figure's. The ghost of William Shakespeare kept a black eye on this first time visitor to his birthplace as he did with the others who passed by his podium. Traveller's from all over the world mingled in the town where the modern day English language was born, but two of our group were missing. Unfortunately our Membership Secretary Neville Wareham and his partner Elsie didn't attend due to Nev having a hospital stay after being taken ill a week or so earlier. The good news is that Nev's on the mend and will be participating in the November trip to Thailand. The Holiday Inn's location with grounds right down to the riverbank and facilities were excellent. Coincidentally, amongst the hotel guests was a large group of Thai's which given the occasion I found to be something of an omen.

After an early start with a boat trip down the Avon, Alan Myers joined with a group of his fellow's to take in the sight's of Stratford. Light rain and no umbrella meant a trip to Poundland (yes Stratford has one) to purchase a replacement. Alan and his friends took in the sights as pictures in the slideshow at the bottom of the page will show. After some time on their feet, the group decided that tea and scones at a WW2 themed cafe, would provide the rest and refreshments needed to restore ambivalence. Unfortunately the cafe was full but with the fortitude of our generation, they carried on to the river.

The OCA 50th Anniversary Dinner on the Saturday night was a happy affair. The food was excellent and the company in a jolly festive mood. In fact the maitre d' remarked to me at the end of the evening, that he and his team had never served a more gregarious group of people. As the picture shows, table four got into the swing of things by raising a glass to toast the occasion. L/R Carole Andrews, Roger Andrews, Jean James, Erwin 'Jimmy' James, Sarah Williams, David-John Williams, Gail and David Higgins. See the slideshow below for pictures of the other tables.

No 50th Birthday Celebration would be complete without a delicious cake. Fortunately for OCA we have a cake maker of the first magnitude namely Marilyn Shields-Probet. Now Marilyn reckoned that as she'd baked and decorated the cake, it was up to someone else to do the work of cutting it. Fortunately and appropriately for us we had the perfect duo to cut the cake. Sarah is the widow and David-John the first born son of Cedric Williams. Cedric served on Crown and Post Crown, first with 59 Fd Sqn and secondly with 34 Fd Sqn. Cedric was the unofficial Crown photographer during his time there and many of his pictures appear on this site. Cedric set up the Crown Camera Club and I was one of his student's. He was a perfectionist who taught us well and for that I an forever in his debt. So it was with great delight that I invited Sarah and David-John to cut the cake which they were happy to do. Many of Cedric's pictures are reproduced on the banners that will be displayed in Ubon for the 2015 Remembrance Ceremony and for the 50th Anniversary Celebration on the Crown Airfield.

Whenever OCA gather invariably our talisman will be there. Acting RSM Harry 'Yakker' Yates, as he was when this picture was taken, is escorted by his minder Alan Myers to the location as he did for this reunion. The problem for us now, is how do we get him to Thailand so that he can dominate his old stomping ground once again? The banner in the background will be on show at the 2015 Ubon Remembrance Ceremony. The majority of the pictures reproduced on it were taken by Cedric Williams.