Red Arrows flypast at Louth golf club to honour man who dedicated special bench

Alan Chandler, 76, was part of the Royal Air Force (RAF) team’s ground crew as its official photographer for two years during the 1970s.

Earlier this year, he inaugurated a special bench and dedicated it to the Red Arrows to mark the 60th anniversary of their first flight, which took place in Gloucestershire back in 1965.

Alan had the beautiful bench installed at Kenwick Park Golf Club, where he is a member and plays three times a week. So in return, the famous aerobatic team agreed to perform the flypast at the club on Saturday when it was watched by hundreds of family, friends and former work colleagues.

"I must admit I was terribly moved and had moist eyes,” said Alan, who lives in the village of South Elkington with his wife, Patricia, and one of their two daughters, Debbie.

"I was very touched that they did it for me. To have my family around me, including my other daughter, Samantha, who lives in Guernsey, and the Red Arrows flying above, I was blown away.”

It was quite a momentous weekend for Alan because, the following day, he threw a barbecue party for his wife’s birthday.

The day of the flypast also coincided with the 50th wedding anniversary of the golf club’s current captain, ‘Smiler’ Hudson. “He told his wife he’d made special arrangements for the Red Arrows to mark the occasion!” joked Alan.

Alan said he presented the bench “to acknowledge the amazing work the Red Arrows squadron has done over the last 60 years to showcase British excellence not only in the UK but also worldwide”.

He has also inaugurated three other benches in Louth. One, which stands at the end of St Marys Lane, was to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the RAF in 2018.

Two more at the golf club mark the late Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee in 2022 and also Lincolnshire’s status as ‘bomber county’ and home of the RAF Bomber Command. As Alan points out, more than 55,000 air crew were lost during the Second World War.

Alan himself spent a total of nine years with the RAF after joining in 1965. He went on to enjoy an illustrious, globetrotting career as a photographer.

He was based at New Scotland Yard in London (headquarters of the Metropolitan Police) for many years, initially dealing with crime and then joining the press and publicity department, which included work with the Royal Family. The Queen herself liked one particular photo he took so much that she used it one year on the front of her official Christmas card.

In his spare time, Alan took on assignments across the world for various organisations, which led to him setting up his own business, AC Photographic.

He and Patricia returned to the Louth area in 2006, mainly to help provide proper 24/7 care for daughter Debbie, who had suffered a massive brain haemorrhage earlier in her life, lost her memory and only survived thanks to what Alan described as “revolutionary surgery” and “an unbelievable miracle”.