The funeral of Museum past President and long term member Nick Berryman took place at Tangmere Church on June 18th. It was chocks away for the last time. Over 100 family members, friends and colleagues were present to say farewell and a Tiger Moth flew over in salute.
Nick joined the RAF in July 1941 at the age of 19 and trained as a pilot in America, returning to this country initially to join 66 squadron and then moving on to 276. During his service career he flew Defiants, Hurricanes, Spitfires and Walrus’, this last being an aircraft of which he had particularly fond memories and which he more than once nominated as the type he would most like to fly again – see this month’s Aircraft of the Month. The full details of Nick’s wartime career can be found in his autobiography, ‘In the Nick of Time’, which is on sale at the Museum shop, and details of his wartime crash in a Hurricane are given in this month’s Artefact of the Month.
A lover of all things aeronautical Nick’s contribution to the Museum over the years was invaluable and his interest, like his mind, remained sharp to the end. Nick was always prepared to help people and he particularly loved sharing his experiences of aviation and life in general with visiting groups of young people with whom he always had a natural rapport. Our pictures show Nick as an RAF officer and in later years climbing into the cockpit of the Museum’s Hawker Hurricane Mk 1.
