Cllr. Parry Batth, member for Shinfield North has been working closely with local resident Doreen Couzens and Barratts to bring about the erection of an RAF memorial stone at a commemorative dedication ceremony on 16th of January.
Shinfield Park was the Headquarters of Royal Air Force's Flying Training Command from 1940 to 1968. The Lodge was the HQ building and this is a listed building. The site became the Met Office's Training facility but has now been developed for housing by Barratts. The Lodge has been very well restored by a private developer as a private dwelling.
A plinth holding an eagle statue (believed to have come from Berlin) commemorated the site as HQ FTC but unfortunately during development this was lost. Barratts agreed to commission a memorial stone and this has now been placed in front of the lodge in the publicly accessible area. We are indebted to Mrs Doreen Couzens, a resident there, officers from the Borough Council and Barratts for ensuring this was done.
We plan a commemorative dedication of the stone to be held on site at 11am on Wednesday 16th January.
Immediately after this, one of the 60 Diamond Jubilee oak trees planted around the borough will also have its plaque unveiled. It is situated very close to the stone behind The Lodge. It stands amongst the remaining veteran oaks which are such a feature of the site. The Wokingham District Veteran Tree Association have been the main driving force with the Borough Council's tree officers to find the appropriate sites for these trees across the borough.
It is expected that the HQ's Reunion Group, which still meets locally every year, will conduct their own event when they meet later in 2013 but are very welcome to come on 16th January.