Air Training Corps cadet Christopher Tooley and Andrew Angus, the oldest active member of the York branch of the Royal Air Forces Association, turn the page of the RAF Memorial Book of Remembrance in York Minster

Young and old stood side by side as a very special New Year RAF Memorial Book of Remembrance page-turning service took place at York Minster.

At the New Year's Eve service, Andrew Angus, the oldest active member of the York branch of the Royal Air Forces Association, and 16-year-old cadet Christopher Tooley performed the ceremony, by turning the page together.

It was intended to show the tradition being carried forward from one Millennium to the next, and from one generation to the next.

Mr Angus is in his eighties and has been a life member of the RAFA in York since 1971. He joined the RAF in September 1939 and served throughout the war years.

Meanwhile, Christopher is a member of 110 (City of York) Squadron Air Training Corps and a pupil at Huntington School. He is the first cadet to have the honour of turning the page of the Book of Remembrance at the Minster.

Alan Bott, life vice president of the RAFA York branch, said: "It is unlikely that this dual role will be repeated in the lifetime of any adult alive today."

Recorded in the Book of Remembrance at the Minster are some 18,000 names of men and women who died while serving in the Royal Air Force in Yorkshire, Northumberland and Durham during the Second World War.

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