Toward the end of WW2, many young men who were living in the liberated parts of South Holland volunteered to join the Dutch airmen who, since 1940, had been serving in the Royal Air Force (RAF). They travelled to England to be trained as airmen but before they could take up arms the war in Europe was over. They returned to Holland and many helped to form the then new Lucht Strijd Krachten (LSK) which later became the Koninklijke Luchtmacht (Klu).

We don’t know the exact date but during 1949 a Netherlands branch of the Royal Air Forces Association (RAFA) was formed and the limited membership was entirely Dutch including many of the volunteers. One of their ideas was to set up several meeting points across the country, in The Hague, Amsterdam, Eindhoven and the Province of Limburg. However, before that could be realised it was decided in June 1953 to split the branch into the Amsterdam and The Hague branches. Later in 1984 the Amsterdam Branch formed the Limburg and Brabant Club to cater for its members who are resident in those Provinces.

At that time The Hague branch became quite exclusive with a small membership and it has remained so ever since. However, the Amsterdam branch took the opposite course and after an initial difficult period when the branch almost closed, a change in the Chairmanship in 1971 took it in a new direction.

From that moment on the branch flourished and operated a club, the first one on mainland Europe and it was opened by the late Prince Bernhard who became our Patron for the Netherlands. In the early years it was located in the basement of an Amsterdam restaurant but in 1976 a move was made to much larger premises at Schiphol Oost. Prince Bernhard then opened what was to become the finest club anywhere. The branch continued to grow until in 1987, it could call on 560 members and 750 friends (associate members). It also became home to many other veteran and aviation organisations who shared the facilities it offered. Many activities were initiated to raise money for RAFA causes and probably the best known was the annual Spring Charity Ball. This event alone was attended by Dame Vera Lynn for some 21 years and it was responsible for contributing hundreds of thousands of guilders to the RAFA. The club also boasted a superb collection of photos, paintings and other memorabilia

In December 1995 the branch was again required to find a new home when the airport authorities closed the Schiphol premises. This move resulted in much of the inventory being disposed of by donations to various charities and several valuable artefacts were loaned out to two museums. The move of the branch also caused the loss of many members. That loss, coupled with the advancing age of the membership, has resulted in a steady reduction of members and associates that continues to this day.

For a further year the branch continued to meet, this time at the HEM Hotel Amsterdam until when, in 1996 work started on the new place in a 100year old Fort to the North of Amsterdam.
That is another story and if you want to know more, you are invited to click on the following links:

The Fort

Edambusters

Sussexdown

Limburg Club