RAF hails historic growth
Personnel from RAF stations Coningsby and Waddington have brought back moustaches for 'Movember', and raised vital funds for men's cancer.
Corporal Neil Dobson was the proud winner of the Movember competition
You could be mistaken for thinking this photo was taken in days gone by but you’d be wrong. RAF personnel have gone back to the 1940s via RAF Digby’s History Training Facility; a time when the moustache was considered part of the uniform for men serving in the RAF.
During November each year, Movember is responsible for the sprouting of moustaches on thousands of men’s faces in the UK and around the world when ‘Mo Bros’ commit to growing a moustache for the 30 days of November and, in doing so, become walking billboards for the cause.
The aim is to raise vital funds and awareness for men’s health, specifically prostate cancer and other cancers that affect men.
The 'Movember' Moustaches Group from the Royal Air Force stations at Coningsby and Waddington [Picture: Senior Aircraftman Steve Buckley, Crown Copyright/MOD 2012]
Two-hundred-and-twenty-five men from RAF Coningsby have been raising both money for and awareness of male cancers this month by taking part in the Movember campaign, along with 30 individuals from the General Engineering Flight at RAF Waddington.
The winner, chosen because his handlebar moustache best evoked the ‘Spitfire Spirit’, was Corporal Neil Dobson, a Survival Equipment Fitter from RAF Coningsby.
From 1 November each man has grown a moustache. The participants paid a fee and some increased the pot by raising additional sponsorship.
Today, the Station Warrant Officer, WO Watson, who commended the effort, judged the moustaches. He then reminded all participants that moustaches are not regulation and that they must be clean-shaven by Monday!
Personnel from the General Engineering Flight at RAF Waddington pose in front of a spitfire at RAF Digby [Picture: Senior Aircraftman Blake Carruthers, Crown Copyright/MOD 2012]
Corporal Mark Porter (left) wearing authentic 1940s Squadron Leader attire and Senior Aircraftman Tom Stopper [Picture: Senior Aircraftman Blake Carruthers, Crown Copyright/MOD 2012]
Personnel from RAF Waddington pose in period uniforms in an original 1937 bunker at RAF Digby [Picture: Senior Aircraftman Blake Carruthers, Crown Copyright/MOD 2012]
Corporal Neil Dobson was the proud winner of the Movember competition [Picture: Senior Aircraftman Daniel Herrick LBIPP, Crown Copyright/MOD 2012]