PASSING OF DINGER BELL OUR FIRST CHAIRMAN

As you will have read in The Birth of Our Association, Dinger was the man with the dream of getting together as many of the 51st as was humanly possible, aided by Ken Savage and Ben Mitchell. 95% of the Entry have now been traced.
It is with deep regret we have to report that Dinger sadly passed away on 11th June 2001 in Hinchingbrooke Hospital, Huntingdon. He had been in and out of hospital during the previous 3 months with various ailments and suffered a stroke at the beginning of May, which landed him back in hospital, where he suffered a second stroke from which he never recovered. He had met his wife Rita in 1950 when stationed at West Raynham, where Rita was an Electrician with the Waaf's. As Chairman, he conducted our business quietly and efficiently, deciding that the reunions should be friendly get-togethers, with no top table, formal speeches etc. His funeral was held at Cambridge Crematorium. There was an excellent turnout to say farewell to Dinger, and there would have been many more were it not for the travelling it would have entailed.
He will be greatly missed and we won't be greeted with 'Hello Lad' again.