On Thursday
25 October 
2001, some 104 Squadron members, associate members and guests gathered in the Officers’ Mess at RAF Valley to celebrate the 85th Anniversary of the (21) Squadron’s formation. At this event we were extremely honoured to
be joined by Mr George Fortune, the brother of Flying Officer John Fortune (22), a pilot of the Squadron who was shot down and killed in North Africa in January 1942. After the meal, Mr Fortune read notes on the career of his brother, who
was awarded a posthumous Distinguished Flying Cross for his actions whilst flying Lysanders and Hurricanes in the reconnaissance role during WWII (read his name in the Squadron Honours List here). You could have heard a pin drop during his speech, which was followed by a spontaneous standing ovation by the trainee pilots
(23). It was never more appropriate for me to end the evening with the words of Sir Geoffrey Bromet: ‘Whenever you, and those who follow after, salute this Standard, you as they will recall brave names and great occasions and be resolved by your actions and example always to maintain the old tradition.’ (24).
See a Photo Gallery of the 85th Anniversary Celebrations here:
2001 ended with 
a visit by RAF Valley’s Honorary Air Commodore, His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales, to celebrate the 60th Anniversary of RAF Valley (25). Although this was not a dedicated 208 Squadron event, His Royal Highness was gracious enough to present the Sir Geoffrey Bromet Trophy to the 2001 winner, Flight Lieutenant Peter Sharpe, for his excellent performance as the 2001 RAF Hawk display pilot.
The Squadron was very active in support of 2 major BBC programmes during 2002. The first was an episode of ‘Wildlife on One’ that compares the ‘air combat training’ of peregrine falcons with that of their human counterparts. Thanks to the outstanding efforts of Flight Lieutenant Paul Crutchlow, this was screened in the summer as part of the BBC’s celebration of 100 years of powered flight. However, for almost the whole year, the Squadron was host to a BBC documentary team as they followed the progress of one of our courses from Groundschool through to the end of the Tactical Weapons training on 19 Squadron. Mindful of the memories of
