Reunion 2010 PORTSMOUTH The 82 nd Entry staged its 23 rd consecutive annual reunion at the Hilton, Portsmouth , on the 28/ 29 th May 2010 . We enjoyed the celebratory dinner on Friday 28 th , attended by 24 ex-Brats, 21 of their ladies and 5 guests. Most also stayed on for a relaxed dinner on Saturday 29 th , attended by 20 ex-82 nd , 19 ladies and one guest. The Chairman, after thanking Mick Simmonds, Christine and Ernie King, for organising the whole event, welcomed all the members and guests and also spoke, in fond terms, of Doug Pirie, recently deceased. Doug was the 82 nd Entry No.1 Warrant Officer Apprentice, who excelled academically and at athletics. After departing Halton for RAF College Cranwell, with a Technical Cadetship, Doug and the ‘powers to be’ did not see ‘eye to eye’ and he decided to purchase his discharge from the service a couple of years later. He relocated to British Columbia to become a Lumberjack. Somewhat diverse from a RAF career! Doug also wrote a book called ‘Timberdown’ that related to his worldwide experiences in this regard. He is sadly missed. The weather was not too kind to us but several parties ventured forth to such places as Portsmouth , HMS Victory, Chichester and the RAF Tangmere museum. We are sure that we spotted similar hardtack biscuits on HMS Victory that were still in circulation in the various mess’s during our time at Halton. Maybe conditions aboard Victory and at Halton were not all that different! The entry fund now totals £1,177.68. Reunion 2011 will be held at the Bentley Hotel, Lincoln , during the weekend 20/21 May. Mick Stracey is the organiser and can be contacted at: 01522 536329 for full details of the weekend package. Alternatively, you can contact myself. Mike Pond – Chairman: 01362 697412