Cliff Hilditch 1934-2023
On the 31 December 2023 the Chairman received a very sad message from Lynn, Cliff’s wife. It reads as follows:
It is with great sadness that I must tell you that Cliff died yesterday (30th December) early in the morning. He had struggled with various health issues in recent months and these included heart and lung disease. He found life very frustrating as any activity gave him such severe breathlessness that he had to sit and recover very frequently. Thankfully we had a wonderful family Christmas Day with 18 of us. Three children and spouses with the “Magnificent 7” grandchildren and in-laws . After that event he could see no reason to carry on in the state that he was in, so I think that he decided to give up. Thankfully he was at home, in his bed with me holding his hand and chatting until his last breath. He was a super husband, father and grandfather and clearly by the reminisces I am getting was well liked and loved, especially for his great sense of humour.
As soon as the Association has the funeral details they will be published on the ‘Members’ Only’ webpage.
Below is a summary of Cliff’s RAF career:
1956 National Service (GD/P) – Extended to 4 years
1957 Pilot Training – Canada
1958 Holding – RAF Medmenham and then RAF Cardington
Added to PC General List
1961 30 Sqn Beverley Sqn – Co-pilot Kenya
1965 CFS Chipmunks QFI training Little Rissington then Cambridge UAS
1969 47 Sqn Hercules
1972 – 70 Sqn Hercules Cyprus
1975 – 70 Sqn Hercules HTES/Herc SimSqn Lyneham
1979 Flt Sim Liaison Officer/ Links Miles – Lancing and Lyneham
1983 – 30 Sqn Hercules - Ops Controller - Lyneham
1987 – Flt Safety 1 Gp Upavon
Nov 89 – Retired from RAF
1989 – 20-01 – Oxford Air Training School Kidlington.