Aircrew Association Archive Trust

Registered Charity Number 1087354

Don't let vital aviation history be lost by default by being put in the dustbin or refuse skip or sold to private collectors. The Trust wants to record your memories as aircrew and to make sure that key archive material is preserved and available for research and display.

If you are a veteran member of the aircrew fraternity - especially from World War Two - and would like to tell your story, or if you have memorabilia that you'd like to be kept for posterity, then contact the Aircrew Association Archive Trust now.

The Aircrew Association Archive Trust became a Registered Charity on 4 July 2001. The Trust grew out of the wish of the Aircrew Association (ACA) to record for future generations and historians the unique experiences of aircrew. Its formal objective is: "The advancement of public education by the establishment and preservation of a dedicated archive of material from members of aircrew drawn from the military services of the western allies which are of special historical interest."

Air Commodore Graham Pitchfork MBE, BA, FRAeS, RAF (Retd) was appointed the first Honorary Archivist of the Aircrew Association in 1998.

The ACA Archive Trust was formed to safeguard the ACA Archive and to ensure that it would be available both to the general public and to historians for research purposes.

Keeping History Alive

The Trustees have arranged that artefacts, records and documents comprising the ACA Archive collection will be located in perpetuity to the Yorkshire Air Museum, Elvington to ensure that they are given the full protection afforded by the nationally registered museum for permanent conservation for the nation. The Museum now provides a specific display for the Aircrew Association Archive Collection and the Trustees are working with the Museum Director to develop plans for an expanded display of aircrew artefacts and storage of more archive material.

Trustees

At the ACA Archive Trust Annual General Meeting held at the Yorkshire Air Museum on the 21st September 2011 changes were proposed to the list of Trustees and these have now been instituted. In addition, after many years of valuable service, the A3T Treasurer John Waring of Upton upon Severn, Worcester has decided to call it a day and has resigned.

The Charity Commissioners have been advised of the changes, but the CC website is taking time to catch up with these changes. For information the following is a correct list as at 15 October 2018:

Correspondence for the Archive Trust should be sent to the Chairman at:

14 Bedford Mews
Sheringham
NR26 8HD

The Trustees will be pleased to accept donations of material such as log books, medals, photos, letters, scrapbook items and ephemera. We also need financial contributions towards the running of the Trust and to further our aims of preserving the history of that unique body of men and women who are or were aircrew.

Chaplain Emeritus

The ACA honorary chaplain,  Bill Pegg, has been offered and has graciously accepted the appointment  of Chaplain Emeritus to the ACA Archive Trust with effect from October 2012.

Bill has worked tirelessly for the Aircrew Association and is to be congratulated on receiving this appointment and accolade for his hard work, dedication and devotion.

Donation of Memorabilia

Anyone having items they wish to donate to this archive should contact:

Honorary Archivist
Air Cdre Graham Pitchfork
Conifers
Puckpit Lane
Winchcombe
Glos GL54 5JQ

Tel: 01242 604196

Items may, however, be delivered direct to:

Yorkshire Air Museum
(Attention of Air Cdre G R Pitchfork, ACA Archive Trust)
Elvington
York
YO1 4AU

Financial Donations and Legacies

Funding

The Aircrew Association provided an initial grant to enable the ACA Archive Trust to collect, collate and catalogue all the valuable and unique items received to date and to integrate with the Yorkshire Air Museum displays.

If, however, we are to care for the expected flow of memorabilia to the ACA Archive Trust, additional moneys will be required and this is where YOU can help.

There are two principal ways in which financial gifts can be made:

Donations

You can make a financial donation directly to the Trust.

Loved ones can be remembered in the future too. Instead of giving flowers at a funeral, you can opt to make a donation in their memory and thus contribute to the funds required to administer the Aircrew Association Archive Trust.

If you are a Tax Payer, you can make a Gift Aid donation and the ACA Archive Trust will be able to recover the tax paid.

Please complete the Donation and Gift Aid form

If you are not a Tax Payer, then please still complete the form but strike out the tax declaration.

PLEASE REMEMBER that if you pay tax and sign this form, you will allow the ACA Archive Trust to reclaim tax without you having to do anything else, for as long as you pay tax.

Legacies

A Legacy enables us to specify in our wills a sum of money or a gift to be given to an individual or an association and is an important source of revenue for Charities such as the ACA Archive Trust.

If you would like to set up a Legacy in favour of the ACA Archive Trust, then please have your solicitor make the necessary amendments to your will.