Veteran reunited with cadet 50 years on
BBCWhen Neil Newman turned on the television on VE Day, he was shocked to see his former Air Training Cadet (ATC) warrant officer giving permission for the parade to start in London.
He and other members of the 495 (Sutton Coldfield) Squadron had no idea that the man, Alan Kennett, who inspired many of them to go into the military as a career, was still alive.
On Thursday, the men, both from Sutton Coldfield, were reunited for RAF veteran Mr Kennett's 101st birthday at his daughter's house in Lichfield, alongside an RAF cadets band who performed to mark the occasion.
"We didn't know you were still alive… we wanted to get in touch with you, that's how much of an impact you had on us," Mr Newman told Mr Kennett.
"As soon as he was on the TV, the phone didn't stop, it was a WhatsApp group that we were all in," he told the BBC.
"We just couldn't believe that Alan was starting this parade, it's been 45 years since we last saw him."
The men were aged between 12 and 14 when Mr Kennett oversaw them.
"We had total respect for Alan because as long as we walked the straight path it was okay… I think that's why we're all still in touch now, because he gelled us as a team," said Mr Newman.
"He came on the camps with us, took us flying, took us shooting."
Looking back, Mr Kennett said: "I think the lads all knew that as long as they behaved themselves they were all right, but if they didn't, they were in trouble."
"I must have done something right."
Mr Kennett was in the RAF during WW2 and worked as a mechanic on Spitfires.
Reflecting on his own contribution, he told the BBC earlier this month that it was a "job" he was doing, whereas those who died deserved the most recognition.
He formally started the military procession of 1,300 members of the armed forces in London as part of events marking the 80th anniversary of VE Day.
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