Roger Annett

Following his secondary education at Kingston Grammar School, Roger joined 81 Entry at the RAF College, Cranwell in September 1959.   A member of C Sqn, his stature always gave him a prominence on the drill square that culminated in him being the Queen’s Colour Bearer for the 81 Entry graduation parade.    As well as being an Under Officer, he was one of the few successes in the new emphasis on academics in the College syllabus, gaining an external humanities degree from London University.    He represented the College as a bowler at cricket and as a formidable hockey goalkeeper. Advanced flying training on the Varsity at Oakington was not easy in the severe 1962-3 winter.   Roger was fast tracked from Oakington to fly the Argosy that was just entering service and, following the OCU at Thorney Island, was posted to 215 Sqn at Changi.   215 Sqn was much involved in route flying to and from (and airborne resupply in) Borneo in support of ‘The Confrontation’ with Indonesia.    In 1965, following the CFS course at Little Rissington, Roger was a Chipmunk instructor with the London UAS at White Waltham before leaving the RAF in 1967.After a ‘holding year’ landscape gardening, Roger entered the world of business with ICL. He rapidly rose to become VP of the Nordic Department and spent three years with his family in Sweden.   On leaving ICL he successively filled several MD roles and then, Europe wide, acted as an independent consultant in the IT/Finance area.   A year as a Thames lock keeper completed Roger’s working life, in what had been a part time role from his launch owning days.
Roger passed away on 31st August.