On Sunday 25^th March 2001 at St George’s Church RAF Halton the 87^th Entry Window was dedicated. This Window provides a single unique focus for memories and ultimately a lasting memorial to all the members of the 87th Entry. There can be no better place for this memorial to be placed than at RAF Halton. We had little idea on that Monday morning in September 1957, when arriving at Wendover Station how much the next three years would form our individual lives. Skills to be learnt, friendships formed, emotional crisis faced and overcome, each event somehow making us the persons we are today.

Over the past years, close friends or maybe just acquaintances, but most of all, members of the 87^th Entry have already made that final march up the hill and through the Henderson Groves gates. Wherever they lie at rest, at home, or in far flung foreign fields, they will always be remembered through this unique, personal reminder of our days at Halton.

To those of you who organised, designed, subscribed to the 87^th Entry Window, "Thank you"

Wally Waldron

For some time now Trevor Bunce has been working on a project to put an 87th stained glass window into St George's church at Halton. At the October 99 reunion the go-ahead was given.  It was installed in June 2000 and dedicated on Sunday, 25 March 2001, with around 30 members and partners present (see photo below).

We started dedication day with a visit to Halton House, guided by Min Larkin (deputy chairman RAFHAAA).  Most of us had never been inside except on fatigues.

We then drove down to St George's church for the window dedication sevice.  This church was built to replace the one burnt down on the night the 87th buried the bomb at Wendover station.

Then a drive to airfields for lunch in the RAFAA club.

Finally we walked up the hill to look around the RAF Halton museum now housed in the old gymnasium on Henderson square.

Very many thanks go to Trevor for this marvellous effort in organising the window and dedication day.

The window design is based on ideas from Len Sutton and Keith Brandwood in addition to Trevor.  This team decided to keep the overall design quite basic and the main colours vibrant, so that when viewed from ground level the details of the windows would be quite clear.  The individual pieces of coloured glass that make up the the nine segments of the wheel, the wing colours and the green of the chestnut trees were hand blown in Poland by craftsmen in the same traditional manner that dates back many centuries.  In fact the whole window is made in the old traditional manner, unlike some entry windows that have coloured film in place of stained glass.1

The design brief:

• Surround is wing colours
• The apprentice wheel.
• The converging trees represent Chestnut Avenue with a silhouette of the workshops at the end (I thought it was the Pimple, but then I was normally happier marching back from work!).
• The Hawker Hunter symbolises the modern Air Force.  It came into service during the fifties (our era) and was also the advanced airframe and systems training aircraft in the workshops and down the airfield.
• 8T7 as painted by us on the 2 wing Naafi roof and dug out at Ivanhoe Beacon, and written such thereafter by us.
  

This window cost us £750. Thank you to all who contributed.

Len Sutton, Brian Morrison, Reg Roberts, Chris Pemberton James,  Richard Waldron, Colin Franks, Trevor Bunce, Bill Galloway,  Mark Thompson,  Chris East,   Terry Falkinder, Tim Wykes,  Keith Brandwood, Jim Hartley, Pat Achilles, Brian Evans, Barry Johns