An enlightening new book commissioned by Dale-based Coastlands Local History Group will be launched on April 20.

High on the windswept cliffs of Kete, on the Dale Peninsula, HMS Harrier was the training school for RN Aircraft Direction Officers, Ships’ Radar Operators and RN Meteorology Officers, WRNS and Ratings. Its contribution to preparing military personnel for new technologies was significant and their presence touched the small Pembrokeshire village which Harrier personnel came to call home.

Set in the period 1944-1961, ‘HARRIER - Out of the Blue’ records factual information about the RN School of Aircraft Direction and narrates the personal stories of those who lived and worked there.

Olwyn Anne, a Radar Wren now living in Australia, described how she felt about Harrier: “I loved the whole experience, the camaraderie, the learning and the sea, which I saw every day; I could smell the salt in the air.“

Group chair Yvonne Evans said: “Coastlands Local History Group is pleased to see that the research in the early years of our foundation by the late Jean Thomas and Margaret Copley has enabled Pam to build and expand the story.”

To purchase a copy of ‘HARRIER - Out of the Blue’, email [email protected].