Trust born out of tragedy
“The Trust is something that all the Air Force can get behind. The best stuff it has done has been when other people have taken the helm. That’s been the mark of its success — other people wanting to take on the work as well.”
Ten years ago the Air Force was shattered with the deaths of three airmen within four months. Those tragedies led Wing Commander Tim Costley to create the Missing Wingman Trust.
Between September 2009 and January 2010, Aircraftman Blake Hudson, Flight Sergeant Andy Forster and Squadron Leader Nick Cree tragically died.
The three deaths within such a short time frame were the catalyst for Wing Commander (WGCDR) Tim Costley to make a difference for the people left behind.
He had just deployed to Afghanistan when Nick Cree died, and the loss of his friend hit him hard, as they had spent their career flying together.
“We knew each other well and had done for a long time. Both our wives were pregnant at the same time and his boy was born just a couple of months after our girl and here we were, four months after his baby was born, and Nick had died really tragically.
“I wondered who would put his son through university and what about Blake and Andy’s families?”
The Missing Wingman Trust was born and over 10 years it has helped dozens of families.
Donations filter through from all sorts of sources, WGCDR Costley said. One airman fundraised for the Trust by climbing Mt Kilimanjaro, others drove tuk tuks across India, and at Dining Ins at Base Woodbourne an empty place is set for the missing wingman and a collection takes place at the end of the night.
“We get donations from all the bases regularly — every bit makes a difference,” he said.
How did the name come about?
“There’s the Missing Wingman formation where an aircraft would peel off, representing the lost airman. This is a Trust for when your Wingman has gone missing or in need of help,” WGCDR Costley said.
The help offered is covered in six categories and one of its real strengths is that those categories are so broad it means every Air Force family has access to help if they need it, he said.
The most heart-wrenching circumstance for the Trust, in his view, was when a Leading Aircraftman had a stillborn baby. Money was tight and she and her partner had been unable to raise the funds to buy their little girl a headstone.
“We found out about this about 18 months after it happened. I said, ‘just send me the bill’. Imagine the pain and grief of going through something like that and then more than a year later still to not have anywhere to go to remember her.
“I am proud of the Trust, but I always think, maybe we can do more — there’s always ambition to do more. The proudest bits are seeing what the Trust has been able to do for families and seeing other people pick up the work and run with it.”
