Littlehampton RAFA branch closes and members transferred to Bognor Regis

Bill Kelsey has been a member of the association for 75 years and has been with the Littlehampton branch for the past 59 years.

He said: “When the Littlehampton branch 624 was formed in March 1946, Sir Alan J. Cobham, Flight-Refueling, Ford Airfield, became its first branch president.

“Now in 2021, as current Littlehampton branch president, I sadly announce that due to lack of volunteers to take office positions, to maintain the effective administration and management, the Littlehampton branch has now been closed.

“The branch members are being transferred to the Bognor Regis branch.”

Mr Kelsey, of Chaucer Avenue, Rustington, first joined the association on June 20, 1946, while serving at RAF Cranwell in Lincolnshire.

He is also chairman of the Chaucery Memorial Group in Rustington, where plane crash victims are remembered at a wreath-laying ceremony each year on February 17.

Mr Kelsey was awarded the 2016 Parishioners’ Award by Rustington Parish Council in recognition of his outstanding commitment and dedication to The Chaucery Memorial Group and the Littlehampton branch of the Royal Air Forces Association.

The newly-refurbished Bognor Regis RAFA branch premises can be found in Waterloo Square, Bognor Regis. For all enquiries, telephone 01243 865615.