5 British Flight Training School

I hope you are enjoying this website as much as I am as I create it. It began with trying to find a safe place for all of my father's flying history. As such I began searching at Embry-Riddle University Archives on line. Luckily I connected with a group focused on preserving the history of the British Flight Training School (5BFTS) where my father was an instructor from 1942-1945.  Of note is Dr. Jenny Harding from England. Her father was a student in 5BFTS Class #3. She is working tirelessly to keep the history alive. I was fortunate enough to visit with Jenny and her husband, David and several other lovely people at the Clewiston Museum on June 4, 2017. Clewiston was the location of the 5BFTS. Every year this group hosts an Annual British Memorial Service at the British Plot, Oak Ridge Cemetery, Arcadia. At this site are the 23 RAF cadets who  died during training and never left Florida to return to their homeland. John Paul Riddle’s ashes are also buried alongside the cadets. 2016 marked the 60th time  they have held this service.

Clewiston Museum:  http://www.clewistonmuseum.org
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Archives: http://www.alumni.erau.edu/archives
#5 British Flying Training School: http://www.5bfts.org.uk
‘George Hogarth – Clewiston and Beyond’. Memoires of George Hogarth, 5BFTS Course 3 http://commons.erau.edu/clewiston-beyond/1/