007 - 231 - Skys the limit for surprise greeting. Lt Colonel John Wright was surprised by a trip in a helicopter ...
Skys the limit for surprise greeting. Lt Colonel John Wright was surprised by a trip in a helicopter over Graven Hill, Bicester, where a happy birthdauy message was laid out in tyres.
Image details
| Access number | |
|---|---|
| Cat by | |
| Cat date | |
| Copyright | |
| File | 231 |
| File 2 | |
| File key | 7231 |
| File MB 600 | 3.7 |
| File megabytes | 3.5 |
| File resolution | 300 |
| File resolution 600 | 300 |
| File size | 29 x 31 |
| Folder | 7 |
| Home loc | |
| ID | 631 |
| Object ID | RAO/56/31 |
| Object name | newspaper article |
| Other number | |
| Provenance | |
| Reverse | |
| Reverse 2 | |
| Reverse key | |
| Status | In Store |
| Status by | AJA |
| Updated | 2nd September 2015 |
| Updated by | AJA |
| X date | 1992 |
| Equipment registration mark (ERM) | |
| Full name | Lt Col John Wright |
| Early date | 1992 |
| Late date | 1992 |
| Transcription |
Cherwell Edition The Oxford Times d Friday July 17 , 1992 clot RAO / 56 / 31 31 4200 42 THE COUNTY'S LEADING PROPERTY NEWSPAPER НАРЕД 50TH COLONEL UNIPARD Sky's the limit for surprise greeting Lt. Col. John Wright was given a surprise present when the Army pulled a stunt to cele brate his 50th birthday . W FOX FI - 6.3000 PAGES 36-61 Lt. Col. Wright thought he was beginning a spell of leave , but instead he found himself being airlifted by the Fox FM Unipart helicopter . He was flown over Graven Hill , near Bicester , so that he could see from the air a special birthday greeting spelled out in tyres at St George's Bar racks . " It was a wonderful surprise , " he said after land ing safely to be met by his wife Judy and their daughter , Lucy , aged 15 , who were in on the sur prise . Lt. Col. Wright was then driven by Rolls Royce to his office at Bicester Ordnance Depot to be greeted by colleagues and a birthday cake . - The stunt was dreamed up by Major Rick Attard , his second in command . Major Attard arranged for tyres stored at the depot to be used to spell out the message on waste ground . " We used 18 to 20 tyres for each letter and the message covered about 11 metres by five , " he said . " The only problem was that for the best effect John had to see the message from the air . So that's where Fox FM came in . " Ready for take - off ... Lt. Col. Wright with Fox FM's Sally Low - Hurry . G - RODS To ensure the ' victim ' I would be around for the stunt , he was telephoned by another officer Col. Ray York , a senior stores officer , the even ing before his birthday and told he had to take part in an important Army briefing the fol lowing day . He had been told that the meeting was to ar range transport for Brit ish troops going to war torn Sarajevo and , by coincidence , weekend news reports seemed to back up the ruse . He was picked up from his home in Ambrosden by a police car and driven to a sports field at St George's Barracks . When he arrived he rea lised something was up . " I thought at first I was being driven the wrong way to the meet ing , but I was told the had been changed , " he said . venue " I still did not realise what was going on , not even when the helicop ter landed . " He was also flown over the house he is building at Horton - cum Studley . Lt. Col. Wright retires from the Army soon and hopes to get a civilian job in warehousing and distribution . Pictures by Terry Lee . CARTER CHARTERED Structural s House buye Building ext refurbishme Programme 14 St. Giles , Tel . ( 0865 ) 5 |
