Frederick Arthur Brackenborough was born in Hackney on 29th May 1923. He was the only child of his father, also Frederick, and his mother, Alice. His father worked at this time as a printer for the Hoover Company but it is from him that Fred developed his wish to fly. His father had enlisted in the Royal Engineers during the First World War, but finished as a Captain in the Royal Flying Corps. Flying was not the only love he inherited from his Dad. As a boy, the two of them rarely missed an Arsenal home game at Highbury, only reverting to seeing the Spurs if the Arsenal were away! He remained an Arsenal fan all his life. His main sports were rugby and cricket. Fred left school having obtained the School Certificate and his first jobs were working for the Post Office and then the Inland Revenue. In 1942 he was recruited into the RAF, and as a keen cricketer was always proud that his recruitment took place at Lord´s Cricket Ground. He was selected for flying training and was sent to Flying School in South Africa where on 11th June 1943 he gained his wings. While in South Africa he also picked up his lifelong love for the game of golf. One of the instructors at the Flying School was the professional golfer, Bobby Locke, who had the recruits collecting his golf balls when he practiced. Some of this obviously rubbed off. Coming back to England he was eventually posted as an instructor to Cark, an airfield in the Lake District, where navigators were trained. It was here that he met the love of his life, Betty, in 1945. True love did not run that smoothly though as he was posted to Poona in India for 9 months, and it was only on his return that they were married on 3rd August 1946. Fred was demobbed from the RAF the same year, prior to their wedding, and he went to work in London for the Commonwealtth Bank of Australia. In 1950, their son Barry was born on their wedding anniversary. During this time, Fred continued flying with the RAF Volunteer Reserve and played cricket for several clubs with the family living in Harrow and then Brighton. In 1956 Fred was 33 years old and the RAF Volunteer Reserve decided he was too old for flying, and so with Betty´s blessing he rejoined the RAF. Three months later he was a Sergeant Pilot with Transport Command flying Hastings aircraft during the Suez crisis. He continued with Transport Command until September 1959 when he was posted to Singapore for two and a half years. Here he took up golf, rapidly gaining a single figure handicap. On returning to England in 1962 Fred was posted to the Navigator Training School at RAF Stradishall where he flew Varsities. He remained there until he gained his Commission in 1965 and was posted as a Flying Officer to Signals Command at RAF Watton. This was his last flying posting and lasted until he went on a year´s unaccompanied tour to Sharjah in the Persian Gulf in September 1968. On his return he trained as an Air Traffic Controller and continued in this role until he took early retirement in 1973 with the rank of Flight Lieutenant. Fred then went back to income tax, not for the Revenue but for the Royal Bank of Scotland at their Drummonds branch at Trafalgar Square. Having gone there in a probationary capacity he was soon heading their tax advisory department. He remained working there for 10 years until he had to retire at 60 years of age. For much of this time, 7 years, Fred and Betty lived in Grayshott on the Hampshire/Surrey border where they had also purchased a ladies´ dress shop which Betty ran. In 1980 they moved to Suffolk and in 1983, after retiring from the bank, Fred went to work for Pannells Accountants in Ipswich and Woodbridge as a Tax Advisor. On his retirement in 1988 they were on the move again to Lancaster and then Lincolnshire, with Fred continuing to work as a tax accountant for private clients until his early seventies. In 2004, just before his 81st birthday, Fred and Betty took a huge decision and moved to Spain. They bought an apartment in Los Montesinos, their 45th home together, where they have lived happily since, celebrating their Diamond Wedding Anniversary in 2006. Fred was a much loved family man who is survived by his wife Betty, son Barry, daughter-in-law Claudia, and grand-daughters Simone and Michelle. He made many friends since his move to Spain, all of whom benefitted from his knowledge, humour, advice and company. He is sorely missed.