Springtime spit and polish

As part of a Force Development programme, a dozen members of the RAF Oakhangar and six volunteers from the Royal Air Force Association set out to give the New Forest Airfields’ Memorial at Holmsley a thorough spring clean.

Standing in the middle of an open site, the memorial and its grounds can look a little dishevelled by springtime. In a few hours, under the supervision of John Brooks, Chairman of the Friends of the New Forest Airfields, the memorial had benefited from some Air Force spit and polish, and the gardens had received a haircut that would satisfy any station warrant officer. The only survivor of the assault was some pampas grass which contained one or two new birds’ nests.