Elusive 1970s RAF recruitment advert – any other collectors and can you help?

I’m looking for a copy of the ad which made me sign up. 1972, News of the World, featured Landrover, palm trees and two airmen and an airwoman in KD. I thought ‘Yeah, that’s likely to happen to me’ and a couple of years later I was posted to Hong Kong!

Great to hear that Robert Parker is alive and well – and apologies to him for ever having doubted his existence!  

Now, would it be premature to suggest this forum might just be on the up again?

Leon,

After years in Suffolk Robert Parker, my brother, is now living near Oxford.

Terry

(was TerryP)

Tom Kilkenny asked about pilot Robert Parker. I was at school with him (St Clement Danes GS). He always reckoned that he was going to join the RAF and become a fighter pilot. A few years later I saw him in one of those RAF recruitment ads that has been mentioned. I don’t know what became of him.

Many years later I joined the BAe Military Aircraft Division at Brough as a human factors engineer in tbe Advanced Cockpit Research Group, working on HMDs, glass cockpits, etc.

Well done, that man. It demonstrates that persistence pays! In which magazine did you find it and what was the date of that?

Found it!!

Re Robert Parker – Confirmed.

Hi Tony T,
In your post #15. 5th picture down. Lance Kiggell was definitely an ex-Halton Apprentice. He was in 88th Entry with me, in same 20 man H Barrack Block room initially, knew him well, he was a good pal. — now I know what direction he went in, ( Thanks for that Tony ) It’ll be 50 yrs come this December since last saw him. As not seen most of these old RAF Ads before. (If I did never took any notice of em ). Like us ex Brats, he’ll be a white haired gentleman now, might even still be in Cyprus. Trying to now accept the fact we of that era are now “Historic”—jeepers !!!!! :confused:

Robert Parker is almost certainly forumite TERRY P’s brother, Terry will be in here sometime to confirm that. He went up to Wing Commander rank as I remember Terry telling me. Well out of the “Mob” now, still going strong he resides over East Coast somewhere. Great posts guys.

Bill T.

I don’t know about “Robert Parker” but I do recognise a couple of the other pilots. One of them is one of the three editors of the “Out of the Blue” series of books. The third and final one of the series is now available through the RAFBF website.

exmpa

Looking back at post #2, I wonder whether there are any 21 year old pilots in the RAF nowadays.

Also, assuming there ever really was a Robert Parker, I wonder what happened to him. Did he end up an air vice-marshal?

Welcome HunterT7 & good luck with your search!

These adverts & posters ought to form some sort of display!! 😉

Whilst unable to help with the original query, I do have one of my own.

In the early/mid 70s there was a newspaper ad for ground staff which featured several images of various trades arranged round the ad with a blurb in the centre. I kept a copy for many years as I was on/in it but have since lost/mislaid it. Can anyone help?

The pleasure is all mine 🙂

Thank you, TonyT! You are obviously a scholar and a gentleman. 🙂

There is a possible ‘long slog’ option if all else fails. If you can get to London the British Newspaper Library will have volumes of contemporary magazines. It would be a case of picking a few likely publications and just going through them. If it was a centre spread that will make the search a bit easier.

🙂 here you go, 1950 to 1960 adverts

http://www.aviationancestry.co.uk/?searchQuery=raf+&startYear=1950&endYear=1960

At my age it’s the 1950s recruitment adverts that I would love to see again. They must have been pretty good as they inspired me to join!

Dont they all look awesome – sadly I have all of those its just this one elusive double pager thats evading me Tony!

Ok think I have found them, you can request Hi Res versions too… linky

http://www.aviationancestry.co.uk/?searchQuery=raf+&startYear=1969&endYear=1980

Took a while but we got there… time to start redecorating the bedroom Gary :p