Montrose Air Station museum took an RAF veteran under its wing to fulfil a unique charity challenge.
On Friday night, Gulf War airman Davy Brown successfully completed a double fundraising mission for military causes.
His first leg was a 32-kilometre day-time trek from Arbroath to Montrose to wrap up a 100k Chinook Challenge walk for the RAF.
But instead of heading home he bedded down beneath the Montrose attraction’s Red Lichtie Spitfire to spend a night under the stars for the Great Tommy Sleep Out.
The Arbroath 57-year-old said it was a privilege to pitch up under such an iconic silhouette.
Lengthy career at Leuchars and Lossie
Davy spent 24 years in the RAF as an avionics technician, much of it at Lossiemouth and Leuchars RAF stations.
Now an offshore installations employee with Aberdeen-based Subsea 7, he said the Great Tommy Sleep Out was a very worthy cause.
The Royal British Legion Industries challenge is encouraging people to sleep out under the stars any time during March to support an estimated 6,000 military veterans homeless in the UK.
“I wanted to try to come up with an unusual location which would maybe help raise awareness of the Great Tommy Sleep Out and be memorable too,” he said.
“Montrose Air Station Heritage Centre had no hesitation in helping me out.
“I’m incredibly grateful to their chairman Stuart Archibald for his support.
“To have the unmistakeable outline of the Red Lichtie as a roof over my head for the night was incredible.
“The Great Tommy Sleep Out dovetailed perfectly with me being able to walk to Montrose to complete the Chinook Challenge I’d been doing.”
Davy hopes to raise as much as he can and has set up a fundraising page on Facebook.
And MAHSC chairman Stuart hopes the Spitfire sleep out idea will really take off.
“We’re absolutely thrilled to welcome Davy to a site of such historical importance in the RAF with which he served,” he said.
“Perhaps we can make it an even bigger thing next year – we’d love to hear from others if they wanted to come here for their sleep out.”
Tornado tie-up
RAF Montrose became Britain’s first operational military air base in 1913.
En route during Friday’s trek, Davy and faithful Samoyed Ness stopped off at another important site in the station’s history.
Upper Dysart Larder, just south of Montrose, was where No. 2 Squadron Royal Flying Corps first touched down in 1913.
The pioneering airmen established their permanent position at Broomfield to the north of the town soon after.
And the ex-serviceman also encountered an ‘old friend’ at the museum.
Last year, one of the last Tornado GR4s to see active RAF service became the star attraction there.
The multi-combat aircraft saw action in the Gulf War and was flown by 617 Sqn –the famous Dambusters.
“This very aircraft was part of XV Sqn at Lossiemouth when I was based there,” Davy said.
“I am pretty confident I would have worked on some of her avionics during that time.
“It looks fantastic on display at Montrose.
“All in all it’s been a very memorable weekend.
“Hopefully my Spitfire sleep out might help shine a light on our vulnerable veterans.
“It must be one of the most unique locations for the challenge and we both slept like logs.
“But the reality for homeless ex-service personnel is starkly different so I wanted to try to play a small part in helping tackle that.”
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