The History

In common with so many newly born Branches at the time, the York Branch of the Association was conceived in a pub! On the 3rd January 1946 a meeting was held in the Coach & Horses in Jubbergate, under the auspices of Mr J W Atkinson. Mr Atkinson explained that the purpose of the meeting was to form a local Branch of the Royal Air Forces Association and it was unanimously agreed to proceed with the idea, an ad hoc Committee being elected. Following this preliminary meeting an Inaugural Meeting of the York Branch was held at the same venue on the 7th February 1946, 65 members being present. Mr H.N.W Pope took the Chair and the Officers nominated at the meeting were confirmed, with the exception of Sir Ivo Thompson Bt, who was elected President. Mr Atkinson became the first Hon. Secretary, Mr F .S.W Johnson Hon Treasurer and Mr H E Hall agreed to become Hon Welfare Officer.

An energetic start was made to fundraise, and Dances were arranged at the Clifton Ballroom and De Grey Rooms, leading to a Ball at the De Grey Rooms on the 28th May 1946. The first effort made a profit of £24 (A lot of money in those days) and had been a great success although “Very few gentlemen members attended”. The Chairman reported that the Membership, in April, stood at 170.

The Dances became such a success that the Branch Secretary, J W Atkinson, in May 1946, came forward with a quite sweeping proposal:
“The Secretary put forward a scheme, for members approval or otherwise, for a Dance Championship, open to all Branches of RAFA, with our own Branch as initiator and responsible for organising it; the Championship to be decided on all four chief dances, viz The Slow Foxtrot, Quickstep, Waltz and Tango, the winning couple to hold the title ‘Dance Champions of The Royal Air Forces Association, Great Britain, 1946’ and be presented with a silver cup in recognition thereof” According to the Minutes, ‘a lively discussion followed’, but the proposal was eventually agreed, and the Secretary was to go ahead with the organisation.
Sadly, this new idea never really got off the ground. The British Board of Dancing Control would not sanction a Championship for 1946 being so late in the year. Subsequent events pushed the proposal further into the background.

At the August Meeting of 1946, there were some issues around lack of co-operation in respect of the organisation of a Garden Fete. A heated discussion took place among many members, culminating in an attack by Mr De-Benes who demanded an immediate settlement of accounts in respect of the Garden Fete. An effort was made to clear the accounts by the next meeting.

By September all appeared to be sweetness and light again, except that all the Officers and Committee had tendered their resignations in order to enable new elections to take place.

An interesting item on the September 1946 meeting agenda was a proposal that membership of the Branch be opened to the wives of members so they take an active part in the work of the Branch. Several members spoke against it, and on a vote, it was defeated. (Sounds very similar to a few years ago – thankfully all has changed now). Sadly, over the next years Mr Atkinson and Mr Johnson, who had got the Branch started, faded gradually from the scene.

Throughout 1946 all meetings were held at the Coach & Horses in Jubbergate, but there was a growing feeling that the members wanted a place of their own. When British Home Stores acquired the Black Swan in Coney Street, they decided to let the premises on short lease.
May 1947 saw the possibility of renting a property in Petergate at a rent of £150 a year, but the Branch could not afford it! The on November 11th 1947 the Black Swan in Coney Street came on the market at £200 rent, plus rates, and members decided to go ahead and start the FLYING SERVICES CLUB. In April 1948, after a month of absolute pandemonium, knocking down walls and plastering, with all the consequent mess, we opened up the club. This all would never have happened had it not been for the terrific help and guidance from Arthur and Ossie Heppell.

It was at this stage John Mawson will always be remembered. He volunteered (and still is in 2008!!) to wire the whole building, and he was really in his element in this old property, spending many hours in his once white boiler suit, ending up looking rather like a sweep than an electrician.

A Dance was held at Terry’s Ballroom shortly after the opening of the Club and decided to take its own Bar. Unfortunately, a transfer of licence from the Club, and after one busy night working on the Bar, Mr Alan Bott was summoned to the Customs & Excise for selling liquor without a licence. How Alan managed to get away with that will never be known.

There is no doubt that the Flying Services Club set the York Branch on the map, but eventually, with the Club hardly paying for itself, was closed down, which ended up with members meeting in many local pubs, and after short periods at the Five Lions, the Londesborough in Petergate, and others, a lively meeting took place at the Londesborough on the 8th January 1953, the outcome of which that “It was agreed that the recommendation of the Branch Committee be accepted and that the Branch should look for new premises”

During the next few weeks the Branch Secretary (Alan Bott) scoured the steeets of York, until one day, in Aldwark, he spotted a board outside No 11 saying “To Let”. It seemed that after a call to the Agents, that the three 18th Century Cottages fronting onto Aldwark were considered to be “unfit for human habitation”. At the Meeting on 5th February 1953 it was proposed and passed that the premises be acquired. Walls were knocked down and all sorts of liberties taken with the fabric of the building, all with voluntary labour, but by the 16th May 1953 all was set for the Official Opening by Alma Pope, wife of Harold Pope, Branch President.

It has to be admitted however, that Aldwark was not then a pretty sight. Even in 1969, Lord Esher, in his historic report on the City said of the area: “Its forlorn character is a surprise to every visitor who penetrates into it” Our neighbours were all of an industrial or commercial nature. Across the road was Wright’s Pork Pie Factory and next door to us was Pickford’s Furniture Warehouse. The end of the three cottages was a joiners shop, and above was the Jewish Synagogue. The site did have its advantages, and does to this day, in that it is central, and inside the City walls. The one great advantage of the Branch is that it has its Headquarters is in an up-market district of the City. The new developments together with an increasing prosperity encouraged the Branch Committee to embark upon a programme of extensive refurbishment leading to the valuable building of which we are the proud possessors today in 2008.

In 1951, the Dances in the Assembly Rooms got to be a regular weekly event, and it got even better when Derek Dunning, who had a well known Dance Band in York was interested in running the dances for us. This turned out to be the best little earner that the Branch ever had, and it cleared around £50 per week, (which was quite something in the early 50’s). It became all too easy – for a while that is, until pressure was put on the Estates Department to limit the number of times one organisation could hire the Rooms in any one year, which ended up with the Branch only having one dance per year in the Assembly Rooms. It is worth recording however, that it was the capital built up from these Dances which enabled us to pay off the Headquarters Loan from the Flying Services Club and to accumulate over £1000 which came in useful when the time came for us to purchase the premises in Aldwark.

Another article on the York Web Site is devoted to the RAF Memorial in York Minster, which was all part of the early 50’s, culminating in 1953 with His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh, who was President of the Association at that time, to come and open the Memorial. A fantastic event indeed.

In 1960 the Air Ministry decided that there should be Formal Page Turning Ceremony held four times a year. The RAF Association was invited to provide a contingent to join the RAF personnel and this function naturally fell to the York Branch whose members are proud that in the subsequent years we have never failed to be represented.

In 1954, the Branch had acquired a Branch Standard and the emblems upon it were proudly embroidered in silk by some of the lady members, but principally by Joan Dawes who spent many hours at this task. The Standard was dedicated in St George’s Church, Linton-on-Ouse, on Sunday 9th May 1954 and took its place an many ceremonial occasions before a certain amount of honourable wear and tear led to its being finally Laid Up in All Saints Church, Pavement, where it hangs from the Northern wall. A new Standard was generously donated by member Richard Harwood and dedicated by the Branch Chaplain, the Revd Canon Jack Armstrong, at a moving ceremony in the same Church.

The Branch has been extremely fortunate in its choice of Standard Bearers who have set the highest levels of smartness and professionalism at Branch, Area and National levels. David Bull, Neville White (21 Years in total), Harry Cowan, Ken Whitfield, and Alan Bott, and currently Fred Ullathorne and Robin Boulton have had or do have the great honour, we owe them all a considerable debt of gratitude.

Our Honorary Welfare Officers over the many years have also been conscientious and competent. The Association motto is, of course, ‘NON NOBIS SED VOBIS’ ‘Not for ourselves but others’, and from the very beginning the York Branch has placed increasing status on the work of these important members of the Branch Committee. Recently, with cases becoming more difficult to manage, there has been a move to have a ‘Caseworker’ brought into the system, which does not remove any of the onus away from our own Branch HWO’s. Again we are most grateful for all that the HWO’s do and we give them their proper place in the Branch hierarchy

York Branch was one of the first to appoint its own separate Membership Secretary and in 1969 Bert Almond was elected to this increasingly important post. Irving Machell took over the role in 1986 when we had a membership of some 450. John Allison took over the work for a short period in the late 90’s, before Kath Allison took over in 2000, and is still continuing to maintain the large membership role of around 375.

In 1965 the Aldwark premises were purchased freehold for £1,525, of which £1000 was borrowed from Headquarters @ 4%. The fact that previous loans had been paid off as soon as we were able made the granting of the Headquarters Loan much easier.

In 1966 the property was re-roofed, but a couple of years later there was some consternation when the premises were declared to be structurally unsound and there was always a certain amount of apprehension at AGM’s that the walls and floors would support the number of people attending. In 1969 a kitchen was installed on the top floor and in 1977 new toilets were completed – much to the relief of especially the male members who had been required to use an outside urinal in the backyard!.

In 1980 work began on virtually rebuilding the Branch Headquarters, an additional skin being provided for the outside walls and a certain amount of steelwork introduced to strengthen the whole structure. The total bill for all this work was £18,123. Grants and Loans covered the work. George Calvert it was who negotiated all the financial arrangements, and it was a great loss to the Branch when George passed away a few days after Christmas 1996.

The York Branch has always been very efficiently run and has maintained a reputation both in Region and Area affairs for the consistent achievements. In 1979 the Branch won the Area Membership Trophy and also the Area Branch Efficiency Trophy. In 1981 the Branch won the Area Wings and Membership Trophies and in the following year we achieved all three – Membership, Wings and Branch Efficiency. Our finest hour was possibly in 1990 when the York Branch won the National Efficiency Trophy which was presented by the Lord Mayor of York in the Mansion House. Further history will reveal that the Branch has since won a number of both Regional, Area, and indeed the Presidents Cup, - all have been richly deserved.

Wings Appeal has always played a leading part in the life of the Branch activities, and members were very proud when in 1966 the amount collected exceeded £500 for the first time, since when the £1000 figure was topped in 1971, then the first £10,000 Certificate came along in 1989, one of many since. All Wings Organisers can take pride in their achievements, Harry Cowan, Peter Carmichael, John Allison, and Geoff Orme, but to name four.

In 1961 the first Battle of Britain Golf Tournament was held at Fulford Golf Course for the Deramore Cup. The Tournament continues today, in the safe hands of John Sloan, one of the Vice Presidents. The Tournament brings in much needed funds to Branch Funds, and helps support the Branch through the year.

History cannot go by without the mention of Ken Whitfield, now a Vice President, who for over 50 years has Managed the Wines Committee of what became the York Branch Club, and whilst many considered Aldwark as the Branch HQ with a Bar, the law looked at it in a different light, and in order to serve alcoholic liquor we needed to apply for the relevant licence, also currently there is a ‘full repairing lease’ between the Club and Branch which will remain as long as the premises remain as they are.

Earlier there was mention of a Kitchen being built, which is currently used for Dining In Nights and special functions. The first Dining In Night was held in 1971. The Branch now hosts all the Station Commanders from RAF Linton on Ouse at some point during their currently short 2 year stay, particularly after the Minster Turning of the Page Ceremony and any other major Church Services.

The York Branch has played a leading role, as always, in supporting the Yorkshire Eastern Regional Committee with the Chairman, Secretary and Treasurer all being York Branch Members at some point in its history. In addition, the Branch has had no less than three members serving as North East Area Councillors, and one, John Allison, became only the second member of the Branch to serve on the Branch Committee, the Area Council and the Central Council, all at the same time.

This year, 2008, the Branch have once again been successful in their Area Branch Efficiency, in winning the trophy for Branches with over 150 members, also the Branch has won the Region Branch Efficiency Trophy for 2008, so success continues.

Whilst this historical report is far from complete, it will give readers some idea of its achievements since its inauguration back in 1953, and it is pleasing to write that much of this information is taken from a book written by Alan Bott in 2000 called York Branch – Its Story 1946 to 2000. Obviously some updates have taken place, and hope that we can be forgiven if some items have been missed, it was not intended to offend. A copy of the Story can be found in the Library on the third floor of the Branch Headquarters.