The Sandbag Times Issue No: 46

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THE VETERANS’ MAGAZINE
SBT NEWS August Edition info@sandbagtimes.com
Youngest of ‘The Few’ Geoffrey Wellum Dies
The youngest Spitfire pilot
to fly in the Battle of Britain
has died aged 96.
Geoffrey Wellum died at his
home in Cornwall on
Wednesday evening, the
Battle of Britain Memorial
Trust said. One of the "Few",
the decorated veteran airman
was approaching his 97th
birthday. The former squadron
leader served on the front line
with 92 Squadron. Some of
his first combat missions
included the "dogfights"
above London and the Home
Counties for which the Battle
of Britain became known. He
was just 18 when he joined the
RAF in August 1939. Mr
Wellum went on to be
awarded the Distinguished
Flying Cross and was
promoted to Flight
Commander with 65
Squadron and later led eight
Spitfires from HMS Furious
to relieve Malta. The Battle of
Britain Memorial Trust's
secretary Patrick Tootal said
members of the charity's staff
and volunteers had been
"much saddened by the news".
Tootal added: "Only this week
Sqn Ldr Wellum had been
Outcry At Proposed Closure Of RAF Scampton
Proposed plans to close
the iconic base for the Red
Arrows, RAF Scampton
has been met with strong
opposition from campaigners.
Defence Minister
Tobias Ellwood said: “The
MoD will close RAF
Scampton in 2022, relocating
the RAF Aerobatic
Team and others to locations
more fit for purpose.
The disposal of the site
would offer better value for
money and, crucially, better
military capability by
relocating the units based
The Royal Navy patrol ship
HMS Sabre has escorted an
unidentified Spanish warship
out of Gibraltar’s waters amid
ongoing Brexit tensions and
Spanish pressure about the
Rock’s future. Tourists on the
beach and on pedallos in the
seawater watched as the two
vessels sailed close to each
other. HMS Sabre is a patrol
ships currently part of
there.” Opened in 1916,
the Lincolnshire base was
the headquarters of 617
Squadron ahead of
Operation Chastise’s
bouncing bomb raids on
German dams in the Ruhr
valley in 1943. Lib Dem
Armed Forces spokesman
Jamie Stone said the sale
is “a huge blow to jobs in
Lincoln, as well as our
national heritage”. Shadow
Defence Secretary Nia
Griffith said: “There will be
a number of civilians working
at RAF Scampton who
talking enthusiastically about
attending the Memorial
Service at Westminster Abbey
on 16 September." Speaking
in 2013, Mr Wellum told how
he was sent out to fly while
still in his teens. "Somebody
said: 'Here's a Spitfire - fly it,
and if you break it there will
be bloody hell to pay'," he
said. "I ended with 146 hours
of flying time. Mr Wellum
stayed on in the RAF until
1960 and went on to write a
best-seller about his
experiences in the war - his
2002 memoir First Light.
Read more on this story.
HMS Sabre Chases Off Spanish Warship Near Gibraltar
Gibraltar Squadron, providing
protection and security to the
British Gibraltar Territorial
Waters. Spain and the UK
have wrestled over the Rock
for decades. A British territory
since 1713 and home to a vital
Royal Navy base, Spain has
long demanded its return. In
the years before Brexit, Spain
regularly slowed the border
crossing between the Rock
will be extremely concerned
about their future.
Former head of the RAF,
Air Chief Marshal Sir
Michael Graydon, said the
move cuts the number of
airbases available to military
aircraft and makes
each remaining airfield
more vulnerable to attack.
A No10 spokeswoman
said: “That closure is part
of a plan to deliver modern
and efficient military bases,
which will save the taxpayer
about £140million by the
end of the decade. More
and the Spanish mainland.
Gibraltar's future status has
also been a key part of
Spanish Brexit thinking,
Prime Minister Mario Rajoy
regularly raising the
temperature. Britain's
position - even years before
the Brexit vote - has always
been that Gibraltar is part of
the UK and will not be
surrendered to Spain. More
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