Goodbye John und Uschi

Already at the beginning of the year, John and Uschi Francis took their leave from us. They left Wegberg for Storrington, West Sussex, where their family and good friend`s live.
We got to know them both through frequent visits , for breakfast and Bar-B-Q`s, to the RAFA Wings Club in Rheindahlen. They are both members of our museum, and have helped and visited us very often in the past, and plan to carry on doing so from England, in the future.

John spent 22 yrs. in the RAF, lastly as a sergeant, and was demobbed at RAF Wildenrath in 1977. He then worked in the automobile branch for many years at Wildenrath, Brüggen and Laarbruch.
His wife Uschi was employed at Brüggen and Wildenrath in various positions, and moved to the Command Pay Office in Mönchengladbach in 1984, staying until it`s final closedown , when due to illness she then retired.

From 1984 to 2009 John was in the RAFA Branch at Rheindahlen, lastly as Chairman. Uschi was also an active member of the RAFA Branch Rheindahlen from 1984, being Welfare Officer, Secretary and Organizer, staying until it`s closure last year (2010).

John and Uschi turned the RAFA Wings Club into a meeting place for RAF personnel, RAFA members and their familie`s, and for us from the RAF Laarbruch Museum.
Many people will happily look back on these events. It was a lovely time with both of them. At this point our many thanks go to them both.
Many items in the museum will remind us of them, one of which is the Pembroke propeller over the entrance door`s in the museum. This propeller was promised to us, on our first visit to the Wings Club in 2007, as and when the club closed.
They both organized the European RAFA Conference`s in 2002, 2005 and 2009, and it is worth a mention that they were honoured in 2006 with the "National Presidential Certificate to coinside with the Queen`s Birthday Honours List", presented by Air Marshal Philip Sturley president of the RAFA ( Royal Air Force Association ).

In 2014 the NATO - HQ Rheindahlen ( JHQ ), which houses the Wings Club will finally close down. This heralds the end of the British presence in Germany, which will be properly covered in a later News Letter.

Anyone wishing to contact Uschi and John, can reach them here:- Uschi and John Francis, 3 Lysander House, Washington Road, Storrington RH20 4RF, West - Sussex, U.K.
or per e-mail at:- uschi-john@ssesurf.co.uk.