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In July 1985 I was posted to RAF Wittering near Peterborough, having been promoted to Squadron Leader. During my arrival interview with my Wing Commander, he said that I had been pencilled in to be the Parade Commander for the visit of Diana, Princess of Wales, for her appointment as Honorary Air Commodore for RAF Wittering on 25 September – just a few short weeks away!

The first rehearsal was, as expected, a shambles. The Station Warrant Officer, responsible for getting the parade together, almost had a fit when confronted with the assorted cooks, technicians, clerks and drivers that he had to knock into shape. He wasn’t too impressed with me, either! I didn’t have a “parade voice”, he told me. That led to a few sessions in the prisoners’ exercise yard practising shouting commands.

Eventually the big day arrived. The Princess was escorted by the Station Commander. Having called the parade to attention, I then called for a Royal Salute with arms presented. Then came the nerve-racking bit. I marched across the parade ground, saluted the Princess with my sword and invited her to accompany me to inspect the parade. She set me at ease by giving me one of those trademark winks while I was in the middle of my salute! As we walked [right] she confessed that this was the first parade that she had been involved in and had no idea what to do! Luckily, there were no obvious mistakes by those taking part and the Princess was perfect. Once the inspection was completed she was escorted to meet the families that had gathered and, after a final Royal Salute, I marched the parade off the ground.

Five years later I was posted as Officer Commanding Administration at RAF Benson near Oxford, where, at that time, The Queen’s Flight was based. One of their roles was to repatriate any member of the Royal Family that died overseas. My first job was to rewrite the Operation Order, a very long and involved process. After almost 18 months the Operation Order was finally agreed and signed off.

In early 1993 I left the RAF and emigrated to Western Australia. All thoughts of my RAF existence had faded as I enjoyed what was, to me, a permanent holiday in the sunshine.

Then, in August 1997, I, along with the rest of the world, heard the news of Diana’s death, and was shocked to the core. A few days later I watched as the BAe 146 jet of The Queen’s

Flight, now known as 32 (The Royal) Squadron, touched down at RAF Northolt, where the Flight had moved to from Benson. I watched as the procedure played out exactly as I had written it.

So I suppose my claim to fame is that I was responsible for both the first and the last military engagements of Diana, Princess of Wales.

Allan Henshaw, by email

I have read every edition of This England since the first in 1968. I was reading the latest issue this morning and came across a letter in your Post Box section by a gentleman complaining about the supposedly coarse language used in a previous issue. I am by no means a proponent of the promiscuous use of “colloquial” speech in magazines or even speech. There are words that I would hesitate to utter at a funeral, say, or in the presence of Her Majesty. The example cited, however, didn’t offend me in the slightest. I would like to reassure you that not all your readers share this gentleman’s attitude to language. This is 2021, for Pete’s sake, not 1921. On a brighter note I enjoyed the rest of the issue. The article on Nancy Mitford was very timely as I had only yesterday enjoyed the excellent first episode of the BBC’s The Pursuit of Love adaptation [pictured above].

Ian Fleet, Stockport