Silver Wings Over Sonning Gala
Sunday 2nd March 8.15pm
The Mill At Sonning Theatre,
Sonning Eye, Reading RG4 6TY
Reading Box Office: 0118 9698000
Actors taking part in the Gala include Richard Briers, Wendy Craig, Royce Mills, Simon Williams, Glynis Barber and Michael Brandon.
On Sunday March 2 Silver Wings over Sonning Gala will be in honour of the young men of the RAF who lost their lives during World War II. There will be songs and sketches from the 1940s directed by Alvin Rakoff. The company includes Richard Briers, Wendy Craig, Royce Mills, Simon Williams and many others subject to availability. Eileen Richards, mother of Sally Hughes, Artistic Director, worked in WAAF Bomber Command from the age of 16.
“My name is Eileen Richards – ex WAAF Bomber Command, WWII., widow of the Mill at Sonning Theatre owner Tim Richards. The Mill at Sonning Theatre was created 25 years ago.
Did you know that Bomber Command lost 57,000 young airmen, some as young as nineteen, who volunteered to fly for Bomber Command in Lancasters, Mosquitos etc.
One of my duties as a WAAF driver was to carry crews out to the planes and hopefully pick them up when they returned. We knew the hell those who had survived had been through. We hid our tears shed for those who did not come back. We were just young girls. I was 16 when I joined (I lied about my age).
To my surprise and disgust after the war, the government refused to build a national memorial in London to honour those brave young airmen – something about embarrassment of our heavy bombing and the lives lost in Germany. At that time people were dying in the enemy’s hellish camps, being gassed, starved, etc. yet many innocent lives were saved because the war came to an end sooner, because of the achievements of Bomber Command.
Of course you must know all this, but many people do not seem to care of the sacrifice these wonderful young men made. Time is running out. We are all in our 80’s or 90’s now and we are trying for a final push to get a memorial. Our voices are ignored. We desperately need a profile name to help us”.
Silver Wings Over Sonning Sun 2 Mar Perf at 8.15pm Tickets £85.00 inc dinner
4 February 2008