My Relentless Pursuit

By Dan Eley

Starting off in the early 1990s my grandparents (grandfather ex RAF) on weekends and the occasional weekday evening would take me up to the old viewing area at Mildenhall and the warren at Lakenheath. Overlooking the runways with a bag of fresh chips my grandfather would pass on his knowledge about all the different aircraft and units stationed at either base and what we might be lucky to see come in or go out. This was a family tradition, the Mildenhall air fetes imbedded this, the smell of wet burgers and giant cookies from the units competing bbq stalls, the C-5s and various fighters on static displays and the incredible flight displays was awe inspiring to me as a young lad.

My pursuit as a young lad at the air fetes was collecting as many litho’s from the crews, pilots and units as possible and having them all sign these.

As the years passed this tradition and inspiration from my grandparents inspired me to work towards a career in the military, sadly something my grandfather didn’t get to see my achieve.

I spent some time away from my relentless pursuit due to my time in the military and illness after leaving the armed forces. Post illness and finding my way in the civilian world i was blessed with my daughter (1st of now 3 children).

As she hit an age where she could walk (around 1 years old) its like i had a epiphany and packed her and the wife into the car and took them up to Lakenheath. Just as we pulled up and got out of the car the reaper’s were then departing, the look of amazement in my daughters face as the afterburners roarer and rumbled the ground was something that brought so much pride and joy to me. Following on from this day and over the years the visits to any base or heritage site and museum became frequent as daddy daughter days, countless hours spent at the fence with her grinning ear to ear and her eagerly asking every question thinkable, What’s that plane called daddy ? What does that plane do ? What is that planes unit ? etc.

We would decimate my memory card and after long day’s at the fence get home and load them up to the laptop and begin the sort through. Once all the sorting and editing was completed she would pick 4-5 of her favourite photos taken and ask to have them printed off to take to nursery/school the next day to show all her friends and the teachers.

She has been fortunate enough to have a special tour at Lakenheath, been to multiple air shows, sat inside Vulcans to Spitfires and met so many units and crew’s who have been incredible with her. She’s even made us leave the house at 02:00 in the morning to see the first of the valkyries arrive into Lakenheath. A moment i will never forget is the day the final 4 reapers left Lakenheath, she always had a close attachment to the reapers, the first jets she saw, the base visit she had with them, her collection of reaper memorabilia.

We stood alongside side the fence on the verge as the final 4 performed one last flypast, as i was armed with my trusty Nikon on full burst ensuring i got every image i could to capture that moment in history i felt her tightly grip onto my leg.

As the jet noise dissipated into a subdued silence and the crowd took in what they just witnessed, my little girl told me how sad it made her feel that she wouldn’t see the reaper F-15C’s again but she was so happy she was there to wave them goodbye.

For me personally and what she doesn’t know is that this journey brought me immense healing, i had a tough time after leaving the military, i never truly healed from lost comrades, i over worked myself in my civilian job and missed the military environment. Being at the fence took all the day to day stresses away, i had a focus with my daughter and my photography and being close to that military environment that i missed greatly brought me a sense peace and belonging i hadn’t felt in a while.

My 5 year old girl can now tell anyone anything about any military aircraft, her knowledge is incredible and she now takes her own photos on her own little digital camera while alongside me with my hefty Nikon and telephoto lens, her bedroom is full of toy jets, F-15 night lights and a mass collection of patches. Its like the torch is passing on and seeing the joy in her around aviation brings back the best childhood memories for me. She is experiencing those happy times i had with my grandparents and the journey has passed from my grandfather passing the aviation bug to me, to me passing the bug to my daughter. Each visit we make or aircraft we see is another chapter to our story, another day we treasure and another photo for the albums.

I think sometimes we can get caught up in the moment of getting that epic shot, catching that surprise arrival or the relentless tracking of a rumoured visit to take in and notice what is happening right next to us and sometimes its incredible to take a step back and embrace something so simple but yet reminds us what the relentless pursuit is also about…what got us the bug – how we share our journeys – meeting so many awesome people – the relationships we build with fellow enthusiasts, units and crews – inspiring and encouraging the next generation of enthusiasts – and the awesome opportunities/moments we get and share.

My relentless pursuit , inspired by my grandparents, brought me healing in difficult times, a continuation of my family tradition, sharing my journey with my daughter and the awesome world of aviation and photography.