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Churchill's Funeral
(a letter home to Mum)
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RAF Halton
Sun. 31.1.65
Dear Mum,
Thanks for your letter received Fri. The funeral went off very well. In spite of the very bitter cold not one Apprentice fainted either in the route-lining flights, the twenty coffin escort, or the 300 in the procession detachment.
I was slow-marching in the procession. Our detachment (representing RAF) were at the head behind Battle of Britain pilots (‘the few’) and two RAF bands. We’ve been told that our marching and arms drill far excelled everyone else’s even the Guards and that the only ones approaching our turnout and standard were the Royal Marines and this by an army officer!
The twenty Apprentices escorting the coffin were from the 104th entry guard of honour which I’m not in any more because it changes over every term to an entry lower. If he’d died 4 mnths earlier I’d have been on it. There were also A/A’s lining the route and their job was to rest on their rifles with heads bowed for long intervals and they were frozen stiff. At least I was comparatively warm, on the move, in the procession.
Altogether over 350 Apprentices took part and although I say it myself we licked everyone else hands down. It was a great experience and honour and very moving, although the procession detachment at the head didn’t even see the coffin because we came straight back onto the coaches. The coffin was half a mile behind us and the whole procession 1,300 yds long, nearly a mile. The route-lining A/A’s of course saw it all as it went past them and the coffin escort of 20 were with it all the time up to the river.
It must have been the most photographed event in history. All we heard from the silent thousands was the click of cameras and whirr of movie cameras. I must be on a thousand photos. I watched the TV recording last night at 9pm but the BBC cameras at least didn’t show us but followed the coffin and escort party all the time. There were many foreign TV cameras and cinema cameras there also though. The RAF fly-past was dead on time and very impressive. I was very tired and worn out but I had the satisfaction of knowing I’d done my bit and well.
I shall be home next week-end all being well. Hope you are keeping well.
Lots of Love
Noel
Letter found when clearing Mum's effects in 1998 and written on the RAF crested airmail type lined paper which NAAFI used to sell in pads
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A little side issue to the above.
Some of us were in the band having spent a week in London in some wooded
shacks in Eltham practicing for the event.
The day itself was bloody cold if I remember right and we were stood on the
side of nowhere in particular waiting for hours and hours. My brother Geoff
was the in the Ton Ones and had lost a member of that intake to the Customs
and Excise in London. Luckily this guy turned up with a couple of bottles
of grog which were put to good use.
We had been told not to play anything joyful during the day but we left in
a very happy state to the sounds of Down Town and other similar tunes.
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Bob McCrum sent this photo of a rehearsal for the funeral. The 102nd are the right-hand file (left as you look at photo, dark hat bands).
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Is this how you remember it? Please send your anecdotes, thoughts, thumbnail sketches, memories etc, on this or any other Halton or 102nd subject, to the webmaster.
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