Monthly Talks Programme
These take place on the last Thursday of each month at 19:30 (No Talks are held in August and December). The price for Talks at the Fleet Air Arm Museum for 2024 is £6.00. We are continuing to improve the standard of our live Zoom option with the aim of widening the audience for these talks. The cost for this option is £4.00.
Access for Thursday evening Talks at the Fleet Air Arm Museum is via the ground floor access gate, which is to the left of the main entrance stairs. Ring the bell on the sign to the left of the gate and a staff member will come and let you in.
Guests and non members are very welcome at the Museum or on Zoom. Tea/Coffee, Wine and Soft Drinks are available for a donation in the FAAM Auditorium before the presentation starts and also in the interval.
These are very popular events and we encourage you to purchase tickets beforehand to ensure entry. Entry is possible on the door of the night of the Talk but only if the maximum capacity has not been reached. Pre-paid tickets are guaranteed entry as priority will be given to pre-paid ticket holders. Tickets are available online via PayPal. Other payment options are available by BACS and Cheque. Please note: there is a cut off for purchasing advance tickets two days before the Talk date and time when the PayPal links will be disabled. Any payments received after the cut-off will be held over to the following month’s Talk.
NON SoFFAAM MEMBERS
Are very welcome to our Talks both at the Fleet Air Arm Museum and on Zoom. Consider joining SoFFAAM to get the benefits of entry to the Museum and other society privileges. See our Membership page HERE.
NB. We do not issue physical tickets. Names will be added to the audience attendance list at the Museum Auditorium. You will be asked for your Surname and checked-in on the night. The same is for Zoom where you will be checked as you log-in. Zoom links are sent out 48 hours before the talk takes place. For further details on any of the monthly talks, please contact us.
Mike Morison – The Jaguar’s front-line role during the Cold War
Thursday 29 May 2025 at 19.30
Mike Morison completed his first tour in the RAF as a Jaguar pilot on 20 Sqn, RAF Bruggen during the height of the Cold War. Although the Jaguar was initially designed as an advanced trainer, it was at the fore-front of Nato’s defences for the final 15 years or so of this period. Mike will discuss the roles of the aircraft and how the Squadron trained for war on a daily basis. He will also discuss where the Jaguar stood in the orbat of Nato’s forces and what the aircraft would have been targeted against (without breaking the Official Secrets Act, of course!). Despite its shortcomings, the Jaguar led the way in Nato as the aircraft that could do the job most effectively – “that’s what we thought, anyway!”.
May 2025 Talk Payment Information.
Members and guests attending at the FAA Museum is £6.00ea and Zoom £4.00ea. You can also pay on the door on the night to see this Talk, but priority will be given to pre-paid tickets if the hall capacity is reached.
PLEASE NOTE: there is a cut off for purchasing advanced tickets on the Tuesday prior to the Talk at 19:30 when the PayPal link will be disabled. Any BACS or Cheque payments received after this time will be held over to the following months Talk.
PayPal
To attend at the Museum is £6.00
To pay by PayPal please click HERE.
We do not issue physical tickets. PayPal informs us you have paid and your name will be added to the audience attendance list at the Museum Auditorium. You will be asked for your Surname and checked-in on the night.
PayPal Zoom
To attend on Zoom is £4.00
To pay by PayPal please click HERE.
We do not issue physical tickets. PayPal informs us you have paid and your name will be added to the Zoom attendance list and checked-in online on the night.
BACS
BANK: Lloyds Bank plc. Sort Code: 30-99-98 Account No: 00857987
Please reference the payment with your Surname/Thurs May so we know which talk you are paying for.
For Zoom, you must email soffaam.joinup@gmail.com requesting your Zoom invite. Please advise your payment is for the Thursday May 2025 Talk.
Zoom links will be sent 48 hours ahead of the Talk. If you have not received one by 24 hours ahead of the Talk, please contact soffaam.joinup@gmail.com
Cheque
Please send a cheque payable to SoFFAAM:
Membership Secretary, Coombe View, 1 Coombe Villas, Coombe Orchard, Chapel Street, Axmouth, Devon, EX12 4AU.
Please reference the payment with your Surname/Thur May so we know which talk you are paying for.
For Zoom, you must email soffaam.joinup@gmail.com requesting your Zoom invite. Please advise your payment is for the May 2025 Talk.
Zoom links will be sent 48 hours ahead of the Talk. If you have not received one by 24 hours ahead of the Talk, please contact soffaam.joinup@gmail.com
Gp Capt (retd) David Drew – Operation Carthage, the bombing of Gestapo HQ in Copenhagen.
Thursday 26 June 2025 at 19:30
Operation Carthage was an attack on Gestapo HQ n Copenhagen on 21 March 1945. The target was the ‘Shellhus’, used as Gestapo headquarters in the city centre. It was used for the storage of dossiers and the interrogation and torture of Danish citizens. The Danish Resistance had long asked Britain to conduct a raid against the site. The building was destroyed, 18 prisoners were freed and Nazi anti-resistance activities were disrupted. But the raid unfortunatly caused 123 civilian deaths including 87 schoolchildren and 18 adults at a school.
In March 1995, David Drew was invited, along with some 50 others, to Copenhagen to witness the unveiling of a memorial to those killed in the operation. His uncle had been one of the casualties. Over the next two days he had the opportunity to talk to many of the survivors of the bombing raid on the Gestapo headquarters in the city, both aircrew and Danish civilians, including members of the Danish resistance. David will discuss the history behind the raid and some of the characters involved before going on to describe the raid itself, its failures and its successes.
Payment options for this Talk are below.
June 2025 Talk Payment Information.
Members and guests attending at the FAA Museum is £6.00ea and Zoom £4.00ea. You can also pay on the door on the night to see this Talk, but priority will be given to pre-paid tickets if the hall capacity is reached.
PLEASE NOTE: there is a cut off for purchasing advanced tickets on the Tuesday prior to the Talk at 19:30 when the PayPal link will be disabled. Any BACS or Cheque payments received after this time will be held over to the following months Talk.
PayPal
To attend at the Museum is £6.00
To pay by PayPal please click HERE.
We do not issue physical tickets. PayPal informs us you have paid and your name will be added to the audience attendance list at the Museum Auditorium. You will be asked for your Surname and checked-in on the night.
PayPal Zoom
To attend on Zoom is £4.00
To pay by PayPal please click HERE.
We do not issue physical tickets. PayPal informs us you have paid and your name will be added to the Zoom attendance list and checked-in online on the night.
BACS
BANK: Lloyds Bank plc. Sort Code: 30-99-98 Account No: 00857987
Please reference the payment with your Surname/June so we know which talk you are paying for.
For Zoom, you must email soffaam.joinup@gmail.com requesting your Zoom invite. Please advise your payment is for the June 2025 Talk.
Zoom links will be sent 48 hours ahead of the Talk. If you have not received one by 24 hours ahead of the Talk, please contact soffaam.joinup@gmail.com
Cheque
Please send a cheque payable to SoFFAAM:
Membership Secretary, Coombe View, 1 Coombe Villas, Coombe Orchard, Chapel Street, Axmouth, Devon, EX12 4AU.
Please reference the payment with your Surname/June so we know which talk you are paying for.
For Zoom, you must email soffaam.joinup@gmail.com requesting your Zoom invite. Please advise your payment is for the June 2025 Talk.
Zoom links will be sent 48 hours ahead of the Talk. If you have not received one by 24 hours ahead of the Talk, please contact soffaam.joinup@gmail.com
2025
Lt Keith Mills RM (retd) – The Battle for South Georgia
Thursday 31 July 2025
Terry Powell – RN Clearance Divers in Op Granby (Gulf War I)
Thursday 25 September 2025
Sqn Ldr (retd) Joe Marsden – Canberra Target towing, in the firing line of Royal Naval gunners and Army missile operators
Thursday 30 October 2025
Kevin Morgan – NATS (National Air Traffic Services)
Thursday 27 November 2025