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Teesdale Aviation Day lecture: Chris Galley

We had the pleasure of welcoming Chris Galley to Barney who delivered an insightful lecture to our RAF cadets about the upcoming Teesdale Aviation Day on 26th September 2023.

Chris’ father, Tony, along with his long-time friend and colleague, John Yarker, established the memorial event in 1995, and it was fascinating to learn more about its history and importance to the local community.

For the first time since the global pandemic, the event returned last year with members of our CCF among the congregation, as well as Mr Jackson, who laid a wreath along with Lieutenant Colonel Connor.

As part of his lecture, John provided our RAF cadets with an understanding of what Teesdale Aviation Day is all about and why we commemorate these lost aviators. He also tasked three of our students to carry out research themselves on three crash stories, plan and prepare a short presentation about their stories and then on Teesdale Aviation Day, present their stories to guests, RAF staff, peers and the event’s special guest, Mr Larry Lamers, who is a surviving relative of a lost Royal Canadian Air Force Pilot, Fred Dingwall, who died in a crash on Fremington Edge near Reeth and is flying in from Canada for the day.

Barnard Castle School is honoured to once again be involved with this poignant event, and we are grateful to Chris for visiting.