All,

I have been instructed by Mr. Bill Bond to close the forum on the Battle of Britain Historical Society - at least for now. While Mark has summed up and given reason, I think there are several things requiring clarification.

Firstly the advertisements. The original forum put up on the Society website by its creator had advertisements (or at least they would have if a fee wasn't paid). The forum was a free ad on to the website, and added at the discretion of the website creator (who did a fantastic job I might ad). At some point Pippa took over the forum, and upon discovering that if one paid a fee for the forum then the ads would disappear. So for quite some time Pippa and her husband paid for the forum to be ad free. She made me promise not to tell anyone as she didn't require any thanks - that's the type she is and we were damned lucky to have her at the helm. An amazing lady that Pippa to be sure, and a great and loyal supporter and admirer of The Few. But when Pippa left it was agreed that the Society would not pay to keep the ads off as it is relatively expensive to do so. If our heroes could fly an aircraft with eleven other friends into a hundred plus German aircraft, shoot at them while avoiding getting shot, avoid collision, navigate and all the myriad of things they did each and every day - most certainly we could handle a few ads.

Recently there has been trouble on the forum. This certainly isn't the first time, and any long-time members will note that it seems to occur with some regularity. All blame or circumstance aside, it is an embarrassment to the Society. We have had good people leave the forum after this one, and Bill has noted that people have written to him quitting the Society because of these forum escapades. Recently there was even talk of legal action. When something like this becomes more of a detriment than an asset, it's time to re-examine. Being from the supposed 'land of the free' and a Journalism major at Univeristy, I am the last one to condone censorship. In one sense a person should be allowed their say. But when it degrades to school yard name calling then it gets damned silly. The Society is supposed to be a dignified organization to remember The Few, and the forum as of late (and in fact too often) does not reflect this.

I understand the feeling that this is 'our forum', and actually it should have been considered that way to a degree. But in truth Bill Bond - who created the Society - never wanted or advocated a forum because of the reasons we are now discussing. The forum was an addition that he relunctantly let happen because it could be a useful tool in educating those who come looking for anwers on the Battle of Britain. That we often discussed other topics was never really an issue, and I think a necessity since only addressing the BoB would likely have resulted in very long periods of silence. But membership in the Society is not an automatic 'right' to a forum, but rather something the serving 'Webmaster' created to allow discussion. And given any possible threat of litigation, it becomes an extra that could cause a quick demise of the Society itself. Most abided by the rules and all was fine; it only takes a few comments and reaction to cause major issue. As adults we should be able to disagree and not get nasty about things - but this has too often not been the case.

The above are mainly my thoughts. As currently serving 'Webmaster' I only follow orders, but thought some explanation was due. Particularly in respect to those good folks who have given much of their time to post valuable information on this forum (give thanks to the likes of Dean, Gerry, Andy, Paul etc). And of course the wonderful Pippa whose cheerful banter and way of welcoming and incorporating all caused me to join up.

Bill is going to put a bit up in the next Scramble and allow the membership to vote on the forum - so those of you who are members will have a say. Mark and I are exploring ways and types of forums where we might have better control or monitoring over who posts - as quite obviously this is necessary. In the meantime, and in the interests of the Society as a whole, I've been instructed to remove the forum until a decision and options can be explored.

To all who have posted and enjoyed the forum - do not dispair. When one door closes another opens and if perhaps we cannot meet and discuss our passion on this forum, another might take it's place. These days there are ways to get a site up on the web for free, and there are free forum tools. If anyone needs to contact me, I am at:

bigginhill1940@hotmail.com

In all fairness I will leave this message up for a bit to give all of those in the UK a chance to at least read this for explanation (since I'm in a different part of the world/time zone). And again remember I am strictly a volunteer and make no decisions so don't murder the messenger.

Thanks to all, and whatever you do keep up efforts to remember all those who fought and sacrificed in The Battle of Britain. They are what it's all about, not us.

John Wheeler