354 (Dover) Sqn 70th Anniversary
On Monday 2nd May 2011 354 (Dover) Sqn celebrated its 70th anniversary by holding a rededication church service and parade through Dover town centre, followed by a reception in the town hall. 117 cadets & staff from 7 squadrons of area 4, Kent Wing Air Training Corps took part in the parade. This also included the London & South East Region band winners from Ramsgate Squadron and the pipes & drums from Romney Marsh Squadron, the salute was taken outside the Town Council Offices by the Deputy Lord Lieutenant of Kent Group Captain Patrick Tootal OBE DL RAF, and dignitaries from the Cinque Ports.
The reception was held in the Dover Town Hall; the squadron displayed a large selection of memorabilia from the past 70 years, during the reception 354 (Dover) Sqn carried out a band display of tunes commemorating the last 70 years with cadets dressed in uniforms of the era. Two presentations were made, the first to 6 of the original founder cadets from 1941 (Photo shows Mr Ken Stoker, Mr Arthur Blackman, Mr Reg Lohan, Mr Gordon Bushall, Mr Dennis Fitz & Mr Bert Benstead along with Group Captain Tootal, Dover Town Mayor Cllr Susan Jones & Flying Officer Jim Eldridge, 354 Squadron Commanding Officer). The second was to have been to the squadrons ex Chairman Mr Arthur Knowles, unfortunately, Mr Knowles could not make it due to ill health and this was collected by Mr Reg Lohan (RAFA). During the evening lots of old friendships were rekindled with some people who had not seen each other for over 40 years. Every one enjoyed themselves long into the night.
