John 'Taff' Lee

1934 - 2022

 RIP

John ‘Taff’ Lee was born in Reynoldston on the Gower Peninsular in 1934.  He was a student at Gowerton Grammar School and spent probably as much time on the cricket pitch as he did in the classroom.  Taff was an accomplished cricketer and played regularly until 1979.  He had the distinction of playing against Eton and Harrow as well as a number of service and local clubs.

Taff joined the RAF as an apprentice in 1951 and dedicated his entire working life to the Service.  He enjoyed tours in Germany and Cyprus before being posted to RAF Fairford in 1968 as a Chief Technician, Airframe Trade Manager overseeing the introduction into operational service of the Lockheed C-130 Hercules.  During that time, he played an important role in Operation SHEEPSKIN, the deployment of soldiers of the Parachute Regiment and Metropolitan Police Officers to keep the peace in Anguilla.  Admittedly this deployment did involve a couple of days on the beach in Antigua!

Taff moved to Lyneham in 1971 and in 1973 he was promoted to Flight Sergeant and put in charge of a section of Ground Engineers who travelled with Hercules movements around the world to deal with en-route engineering issues.  Taff described this time as “one of the best jobs in the RAF with world-wide travel and 4-star hotel stopovers”.

Taff joined the Cricklade Branch of the Royal British Legion in 1989 and was appointed as the Branch Standard Bearer at his first meeting.  Subsequently, he held committee positions as Hon. Treasurer, Delegate to the County Conference, Hon. Secretary, Welfare Officer, and Membership Secretary.  In recognition of his service to the RBL, Taff was presented with the Legion’s Gold Badge in 2010 and was appointed as an Honorary Life Vice-President.  Taff involved himself in all aspects of the Branch and was always quick to volunteer for any task that came up.  Perhaps most importantly, he was the unofficial Branch historian, and we will ensure that the huge among of historical data that he researched and collected over the years is properly protected.

Taff was an absolute stalwart of the Cricklade and District Branch of the Royal British Legion and will be sadly missed.  Our thoughts and prayers are with Ingrid and the rest of the family.