A pensive moment......

I thought long and hard before adding this page. Involvement with the Military is what this site is all about. This site is about aviation wings and badges in principal, but it is also a repository for information pertaining to the lives of those men and women who wore them and / or supported those who did. Because the subject of the site is global, the military connotation can have very negative and very positive attributes, depending upon the viewer, the era being considered and so on. One assumes that anyone using this website is respectful of its contents and purpose.

However, no matter what one's view of the politics involved, or the leadership, in some regard, at some time, we should all give credit to those men and women who have, or have been prepared to put their lives on the line for their beliefs, in or out of uniform, even if never called into active service. Consequently, I have taken no partisan position to inclusion or exclusion of any military aviator from this site. The inclusion of any national entity, be it by using a name or or showing military or political symbology, does not indicate any form of support for that nation or its political or social aspirations.

Finally, as far back as I can identify their military involvement, this is my nod to the pride with which my own family have served.

Robert Reuben Langley, (#2361 and later #325678), at centre, Cambridgeshire Regiment, British Army, 1914-19. Born 1891. "Bob" to his friends. Volunteer enlistment September 1914. One of the very few who left on Day 1 (February 2nd 1915) and came back in May 1919 when it was all finished, the "Cadre". My Grandfather, my mentor and friend. He left a Private and came back to bear the colours when the Regiment returned to Cambridge. After the Great War he moved to Lincoln and joined the Lincoln City Police, with whom he remained until his retirement as Sergeant in the 50's. In Police service he was awarded the Police Bravery Medal and then the Police Good Service medal in 1939. During WW2, as well as his Police duties, he was an Air Raid Precautions officer. In his retirement, he attended most of the Regimental re-unions including special ones in Belgium and kept himself busy as "Keeper of the Keys of the City of Lincoln". In his life he witnessed the first cars, the first planes and the first landing on the moon. "Diddy" passed peacefully away July 1973. Alfred Robert Langley, (#5110) SSM 19th Hussars (Queen Alexandra's Own) 1906-1916; later Captain, 6th Wiltshire Regiment 1916-1917, British Army. My Grandfather's elder brother. Born 1883. "Bob" to his friends. He was a master horseman and joined the regular Army in 1906 as a trooper in the Hussars. He won first prize in Riding and Jumping many years in a row at the British Military Tournament, against competition from the finest riders from many international armies. He was field commissioned into the 6th Wiltshire Regiment as Captain 1st September 1916 during the Great War and was killed in action on September 20th 1917, trying to take a German machine gun nest. My Grandfather was able to recover his brother's cap and its badge from atop an upturned rifle stuck in the mud, with a rough wooden slat etched with his name, rank and number wired to it, (and carried the badge with him for the remainder of the war) but his remains were never recovered and identified. He is commemorated on the Tyne Cott memorial in Belgium. Alfred Robert Langley, Royal Air Force, 1940-1946. Born 1922. "Bob" to his friends. My Father, son of Robert Reuben Langley. He volunteered on reaching 18 and spent time at RAF Cranwell and RAF Duxford before being posted to Malta, where he was destined to remain, blockaded, for much of the war. His journeys also took him to Rabat in Morrocco. His last posting was to RAF Jodhpur in India, from where he was demobbed back to UK. He has spent all the remainder of his working life in Lincoln, working in engineering. He has made a couple of visits back to Malta. He continues living in retirement in Lincoln today. Christopher Robert Langley, Born 1952. Broke the family mold, not "Bob" to my friends! Grew up in "Bomber County", Lincolnshire, surrounded by the Air Force. Joined the Air Training Corps (first 204 Lincoln Squadron, then transferred to 1237 North Kesteven Sqdn.) I was awarded my Warrant on my 18th birthday. I took full advantage of what the ATC had to offer. I spent a lot of time training and flying (way more than HQ Air Cadets or Wing ever knew!) on weekends and in all the free time I could create, aided and abetted by some wonderfully helpful "friends". I travelled widely with the ATC and RAF and on moving on to College and beyond, continued to serve in other capacities. I now live in western Canada and collect for and curate a wings collection!