After joining the RAF in 1962 and completing two intensive years of radio and radar training with sixty other young men, Keith, like many others, spent substantial time away from his home and friends early in his career.
With time spent working in far-flung places like Borneo and Madagascar Keith tell us “…it wasn’t all that unusual that (I) lost touch with many of (my) training colleagues”. In fact, Keith says of his time working in across the globe “I never once met any of my old classmates, not one in nearly 50 years”.
Keith left the RAF, went to university, started a family, and enjoyed a long and exciting career, but he didn’t forget about his old pals. It turns out that at least one of them didn’t forget about him either! In 2015 and out of the blue Keith received an invitation to a reunion of the RAF cohort, organised by one of his friends from back in the day. Delighted to be invited, and able to attend the gathering in Nottinghamshire, Keith made the trip. He recalls “it was so strange to see everyone all those years later.”
Keith was especially surprised when he learnt that some of those attending had flown to the UK just for the event. Present included friends from Belgium, Cyprus, and South Africa. As you can imagine, there were all kinds of interesting stories and memories to talk about as well as a lifetime’s worth of work and family to catch up on.
Even years later, Keith, who is now living in Spain, is still in touch with the friend who organised their reunion. He is currently living in Belgium, which makes it harder to catch up, but they stay in contact all the same. While there have been a couple smaller reunions organised since 2015, this year’s catchup has been put on the back-burner.
If, like Keith and his RAF buddies, you have a reunion story involving catching up with old friends, former workmates or even long-lost family members, and you’ve used 192.com to help reunite, we’d love to hear about it! Send us an email on feedback@192.com with your story, and we will be back in touch.