A MINEHEAD man who has clocked up almost 60 years of service and helped raise around £170,000 to help RAF comrades and their families has been awarded the MBE in the Queen's New Year Honours. Ron Storey joined the local branch of RAFA - the Royal Air Forces Association - in 1949, just a year after it was formed. The 86-year-old had been a serving airman for five years from 1941 and had survived unscathed after being shot down over France in 1944, eventually returning to England with the help of French Resistance members and the SAS. Ron, who was born in Dunster and has lived in the West Somerset area all his life, became an antiques restorer when he was demobbed a year after the end of World War Two. But his commitment to RAFA has remained constant and over the years he has been a key member of the Minehead branch, serving as its chairman for some time. However, for the past 34 years Ron has taken on the role of fundraiser, leading the Wings Appeal and other initiatives, for which he has received the honour. And throughout that time he has been staunchly supported by his wife Joan, to whom he has been married for the past 63 years. Ron admitted that news of his MBE had come as a surprise but said his only regret was that Joan was not included in the citation. "We have done all the fundraising together and she deserves it every bit as much as me," he said. "We have had a wonderful band of dedicated helpers and collectors and we couldn't have raised the money we have without them and their wonderful support. "I haven't really given what I have done a thought over the years - I've just got on and done it. "It's been very interesting and the help that RAFA can provide is really needed." The couple have a son and a daughter who Ron said were "very pleased" when they heard about his MBE at the weekend. "Now they want to know if they can come to Buckingham Palace with me," he said. Photo: Steve Guscott
