PEMBROKE Dock proudly remembered its Royal Air Force Heritage on Easter Sunday April 1, staging a major Welsh event to mark the service’s actual 100th anniversary.

During the day over 250 people visited the Pembroke Dock Heritage Centre where a newly created RAF exhibition was admired and a programme of talks and walks arranged.

Flying the Pembrokeshire flag for the Royal Air Forces Association in the centenary year were these members of No 592 Branch. Left to right: Gary Evans, Ron and Ann Ansell, Fiona Evans and Chairman Tony Roe.

Several west Wales organisations with aviation connections supported the Heritage Centre team with displays of their own.

The superb Spitfire instrument panel with its creator, Dr Andrew Watkin of Ammanford. PICTURE: Martin Cavaney.

John Rattenbury of Ambleston was ‘reunited’ with the Handley-Page Victor bomber, courtesy of a model from the Penfro Model Club display. PICTURE: Martin Cavaney.

Making a very enjoyable return visit to ‘PD’, over 70 years after he was first posted to the RAF Station, was Sir Robert Delpech, who later in a very distinguished career became Ambassador to the UK for the Seychelles. After serving in the Royal Navy during World War II Bob joined the RAF and his first posting was in 1947 to the Marine Craft Section at Pembroke Dock where he was senior coxswain in charge of the craft which supported the operation of Sunderland flying boats. Bob now lives in Milford Haven. PICTURE: Martin Cavaney.

They were No 948 (Haverfordwest and St Davids) Squadron, Air Training Corps; No 592 (Haverfordwest) Branch of RAFA; The Pembrey Mountain Trust; The Welsh Spitfire; Coastlands History Group from Dale, Marloes and St Ishmaels, and the Templeton History Group.

The Penfro Model Club, which meets monthly at the Centre, had a fine display of model aircraft spanning the RAF’s century, and there were individual exhibitors - Andrew Watkin of Ammanford with his Supermarine Spitfire Mk II instrument panel, complete with original instruments and gunsight, and John Rattenbury of Ambleston, a former 10 Squadron RAF Victor V-bomber pilot.

The youngest member of the Penfro Model Club, Sam Russell, exhibited his model of the legendary Spitfire fighter in the Club’s fine display of RAF aircraft. PICTURE: Martin Cavaney.

Two cadets from 948 Squadron, Sergeant Rhoswyn Lewis and Cadet Will Letten, gave an excellent presentation on the World War I seaplane station at Fishguard while the squadron’s Flying Officer Keith Jones spoke on the Battle of Britain of 1940. The unique gunnery Dome Trainer project at Pembrey was highlighted by Doug and Patricia Neil while Ray Burgess brought the Welsh Spitfire project up to date. The Sunderland Trust’s Rik Sandanha gave a diver’s perspective and posed questions on the sinking in the Haven of Sunderland T9044.

Ted Goddard led a dockyard discovery walk and John Evans followed on along the town’s RAF trail.

Dockyard discovery walk leader Ted Goddard (right) with some of the walking group. PICTURE: Martin Cavaney.

The new RAF100 exhibition, entitled ‘Many Nations, Many Trades’, features uniforms from the Centre’s collection and the stories of individual service personnel connected to them. The exhibition runs until early September.