ASSOCIATION BACKGROUND
Our Association came into being in its current form in 1993 , before that time individuals and ex members met more or less by chance during the Annual Airborne Forces Weekend held in Aldershot, when on the Saturday after the main Parade of the many hundreds of ex's individuals would make their way to the ground area behind the museum (or the various Messes or both) here 23 PFA along with all of the other Units of the then 16 Parachute Brigade and later as part of 5 Field Force (much to the Chagrin of all concerned) would put up a tented area , staffed by serving members not on deployment at that time and fitting it out with new and current pieces of equipment (and for some considerable time pieces which even the war time ex's would recognise) the tent would be surmounted by a Unit Flag giving like minded and interested personnel a point to aim for where they would meet up with old pals and acquaintances and make many new ones.
That same evening , as on the previous night , the Unit would lay on a social function to allow all visitors the chance to swap stories , get up to date with personal and family events and commiserate on the losses over the previous period and much more.
On that particular Weekend in 1992 there had been a much larger gathering of the old clan , ex members with a wider range of service dates , varied experiences in an enormous number of countries , this led to a realisation that here was something very special and very much worth preserving for as long as possible, it was felt there was a great deal of history to be preserved and much more to follow (the way things were moving), everybody wanted to preserve and promote the special ethos that had evolved over the years.
There was also a realisation that it was becoming more and more difficult for the Serving Unit and its members to admin these functions due to the increase in the military commitments also there was a feeling that there was an increasing gulf in attitudes, those older ex members understood the value of long term friendships and comradeship , while the fit young bloods were (just as we all were probably at the similar stage no doubt) busy working hard and long ,playing in the same way, but over a much wider and more varied landscape and sets of circumstances than most of us had experienced in our time and they maybe got a bit fed up with playing host to a bunch of us oldies who seemed to them to be more interested in each other's company , news and families.
From that weekend , using old surviving PFA records (despite the new data protection issues) plus the information from those attending and their friends a list of some 500 ex serving members names and addresses was compiled by Major (Rtd) Maurice Bruen who (like a fool) volunteered to become the first unpaid Secretary for the newly devised group (incidentally he continued in that post for 10 years ) all of the people on that initial list were contacted they came from not only the ex 23 PFA members but from all of the surviving known members of the Original Airborne Units formed in 1944 ; 181 Air Landing F A -16 PFA (who's number has been resurrected in the newest formation 16 CSMR based in Colchester) also 44-45-46-144 PFA's 17-127-133-195-224 -225pFA plus former Doctors and medics attached to other airborne formations and most importantly of all ALL CAP BADGES
From that initial tranche' of names the association in its present form evolved, we currently have some 300 registered members all who have been issued with our own special designed lapel badge they are a complete mixture of all ranks, trades and cap badges Cooks , REME personnel, RE personnel, Doctors, Dentist, Laboratory technicians. Drivers , Clerks the odd Major General, Brigadiers, Colonels , Majors and all other Commissioned ranks (not all of the Doctors). In fact our members provide a living connection from the original formed Airborne Units through the inception of 23 P.F.A on the 8th February 1947 and their personnel to the present day Units, 16 C.S.M.R and its integral Para Medical Squadron 144 (v) proving that today as ever the volunteer soldier is a vital part of the armed forces.