AIR CADETS GATHER 60 YEARS ON

2 Feb 2001 12:00 AM

It''s 60 years since the Air Training Corps was formally created during the dark days of World War 2 to provide a steady supply of quality Air Cadets for the Royal Air Force.

To celebrate the event, some 170 former and present-day Air Cadets will gather at the House of Commons today Friday, 2 February, for a special anniversary dinner, while on Sunday HRH the Duke of Edinburgh will be among those attending a commemorative service at St Clement Dane''s Church in the City of London.

Bill Walker, ATC Regional Chairman for Scotland and Northern Ireland, said:

''This will be quite a gathering. Among the guests will be ''old and bold'' founders of the ATC and members of the Former Old Gliding Instructors Extension Society - known as FOGIES - as well as leading figures from the aviation industry and top former and serving RAF officers. We will be spanning every generation from Percy Leitch, age 90, a founder of the pre-war Air Defence Cadet Corps, to Stephanie Marsh, officially the best female cadet at RAF Cranwell last year.''

The Air Training Corps offers young people aged from 13 to 22 exciting opportunities to experience service life, take part in all kinds of sporting and adventure training activities, and fly gliders, motor gliders and powered aircraft. At its height during the war, the ATC had 210,000 Air Cadets. By 1965 the number had dropped to 25,000 but since then it has risen to 39,000 with another 10,000 volunteer staff.

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NOTE TO EDITORS

1. For further information please call Denise Housby on 01400 261201 ex 7631 or Tony Matthews on 020 7218 2480. The RAF web-site can be found at http://www.raf.mod.uk Alternatively you may contact the Defence Press Office by e-mail at press@dgics.mod.uk