Honouring a Lifetime of Service
On Friday 9th June at Cathcart Parish Church Hall, Flight Lieutenant Craig Gilmour was honoured for a total of 35 years of uniformed service in the Air Cadets in Shawlands. The award is of the Third Clasp to the Cadet Forces Medal and was made by the guest of honour, the Commandant of Scotland and Northern Ireland, Group Captain Morag Urquart.
Craig has dedicated almost all of his spare time to the Air Cadets since he first joined Shawlands squadron back in August 1966 as a young and enthusiastic cadet. When he was too old to be a cadet he continued in the squadron as an instructor, then was commissioned into the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve on the 7th May 1971. He served as an officer on the squadron until January 1979 when he took over command of it. Much of the success Shawlands squadron has achieved over the years, especially in target shooting has been due to his tireless dedication squadron and the young people in it.
Craig said "It is a great honour to receive the award. I didn't realise when I first joined the Air Cadets all those years ago that it would have had such a huge influence on my life and that I'd still be in it nearly 40 years later."
There were a number of other awards presented that night to cadets from 2452 (Shawlands) squadron. The main ones were "Cadet of the Year" to cadet Marc Agro and the "Scottish Team Full Bore Shooting trophy" to J Ali, R Addison and brothers Nick and Marc Argo.