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Veteran soldier joins up again........at the Sunderland Trust 


Cap that! Italy Star veteran John Jackson tries an RAF forage cap
for size under the expert eye of
Flying Boat Centre volunteer Margaret Black.

Veteran soldier John Jackson, who spent 36 years in Army uniform, has been ‘called up’ again - for the RAF! 

John, who regularly visits friends in west Wales, has been recruited to the volunteer team which runs the UK’s only Flying Boat Centre, at the former RAF base in Pembroke Dock.The Italy Star man - who lives in Heywood, Lancashire - greets visitors to the centre located in the heart of what was once the largest flying boat station in the world. During World War II John served in the Royal Artillery and saw action during the gruelling Italian campaign. He later joined the Territorials serving in the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, ending up as Company Sergeant Major. 

Last year, John joined a battlefields tour in Italy and others in the tour group were two volunteers from the Flying Boat Centre, Margaret Black and Anne Preston, of Pembroke. “We got on famously from the start,” said John, “and I soon started to hear all about flying boats, particularly Sunderlands. For an Army man this is all new territory. Now, when I visit Pembrokeshire, I go on parade at the Flying Boat Centre and I meet lots of visitors and work with a great bunch of new friends.” Added Margaret: “John has seen the light at last and joined the RAF - even after over 60 years it is not too late!” 

The Flying Boat Centre tells the story of one particular Sunderland which sank in the local waterway 70 years ago. There are plans by the Pembroke Dock Sunderland Trust, which runs the Centre, to recover and display the Sunderland - one of only four left in the world. www.pdst.co.uk 

From: John Evans, Pembroke Dock Sunderland Trust, 01646 623427

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