The Old Haltonian Association, which was founded by Lieutenant Colonel AFS Cardwell in 1925, was an important feature of the earliest years of the Royal Air Force's Apprentice training at the No.
It was a flourishing activity with representatives on every RAF unit and in the aircraft industry who all submitted reports to the Association's Halton Magazine on the doings of ex-Apprentices worldwide.
It was strongly supported by the Station under the leadership of Group Captain Owen Truelove and was a huge success with an estimated 3,500 attending and it set the pattern for all future Reunions.
A Constitution was adopted and Group Captain Truelove became the first ex-officio President of the Association, a position that all succeeding Station Commanders have accepted to this day.
The Association keenly supported the production of a magazine, and the first Haltonian was finally published in the Summer of 1981 and included a report on the visit of Her Majesty The Queen to Halton the previous year.
It was attended by over 125 Members, including the Association's Patron, Air Vice Marshal Michael Armitage (56th) and the newly appointed president, one Group Captain Mike Evans (70th), who had taken over as Station Commander three weeks before.
During the first five years of the Association, the basic financial and management structure evolved, with the investment of Annual, 3-yearly and Life Membership subscriptions to ensure an income stream to fund the administration, laying down the organisational framework for Triennial Reunions, use of a very early – almost steam – computer to handle Membership records, ensuring that the Haltonian magazine was funded and distributed, coordinating the formation of Area and Entry branches which have formed the heart of the everyday activities of the ex-Apprentice community up to this day, and establishing a focus for welfare activities with the appointment of a Welfare Co-ordinator.
The impending closure of RAF Halton combined with inappropriate activities by senior members of the Association caused the Station to withdraw its support.
Even at the first AGM, there was an appreciation of the financial advantages that would accrue from charitable status and work was started to enable the Association to negotiate with the Charities Commission.
John Rogers succeeded Richard Martin (6th entry, 1922) (Born: 12 October 1906, in Southfields, London/Died: 1 November 2010, in Kircaldy, Fife, aged 104) as King Brat.