Annual General Meeting 2010

This, the seventh AGM, was well attended. Our Chairman, Ambrose Barber, opened the proceedings with his annual statement. He hoped all would agree that we had had another enjoyable year with an interesting variety of speakers covering both history and current affairs. The launch of the Sir Sydney Camm Learning Centre at Kingston University had been attended and our aim of publicising Hawker achievements was achieved here. He thanked the committee members, all of whom stood for re-election, for their services noting particularly Secretary Barry Pegram, Editor Chris Farara and Webmaster Richard Cannon. The Chairman also paid tribute to our President, John Glasscock, who was retiring after six years. He was our very first speaker and had supported the Association by his presence on numerous occasions and also behind the scenes. As a token of our appreciation Ambrose presented the retiring President with the Harrier picture started by Colin Wilson in his demonstration of aviation painting in February.

The 2010 Hawker Association Annual General Meeting

    The Secretary reported on the satisfactory state of the membership and on the good attendances at meetings, all illustrated with coloured viewgraphs, and the Treasurer revealed the Association’s healthy financial position with £5628.02 in the bank at the end of 2009.
   The Chairman and Committee were re-elected and John Glasscock proposed that Sir Colin Chandler be invited to be the new President. Colin had, John said, been an impressive General Manager of our K-B Division in 1977, had done well in Defence Sales for which he was Knighted, and then went to Vickers and on to EasyJet; he was highly recommended. The motion was carried.
   After the meeting a film “Hurricanes Over Russia”, made by Roy Perkins and Viv Pottersman for the RAF Russia Association and supported by the RAF Historical Society, was screened. It is the only film documentary about the mission of RAF 151 Wing (81 and 134 Squadrons) to Russia as part of the first British convoy in August 1941. The Russian air force was destroyed prior to the German invasion and Stalin requested aircraft. Some Hurricanes were shipped and assembled, in nine days, at Archangel, others flew in off HMS Argus. They were used to defend Murmansk, an ice-free port. Eventually the Hurricanes were handed over to the Russians and the RAF officers and men returned to the UK with the RN.