AS RAF Lyneham celebrates the 70th birthday of its founding unit, former serviceman Dan Gurney recalled his happy years there and his sadness at its impending closure.

Dan, who shares the milestone birthday this year, joined the RAF Fire Service in 1958, spending two years at Lyneham before being transferred to RAF Benson, in Oxfordshire.

He left the RAF after five years and returned to RAF Lyneham as a civilian firefighter in 1963.

In the same year he married sweetheart Janet Shurmer – they will celebrate their 47th anniversary on October 19.

“I can’t tell you what a pleasure it was to work at RAF Lyneham,” said Dan.

“Those were good days. I’m just so sad now that RAF Lyneham will close, so many jobs will be lost and the heart of the community will be gone forever.”

RAF Lyneham – home of the military workhorse, the Hercules – is scheduled for closure by 2012 with both its functions and aircraft relocating to RAF Brize Norton.

The base will remain open until the last of the C-130K fleet is retired, at which point the 24 new generation C-130Js will move to the Oxfordshire airbase.

RAF Lyneham began with the formation of 33 Maintenance Unit – a civilian unit formed on May 18, 1940 and responsible for servicing and storing one Tiger Moth and one Albacore aircraft.

The ability of the team led to increasing responsibility and by 1945 33 Maintenance Unit had produced 144 Lysanders, 726 Wellingtons, 331 Beaufighters and 4,392 Spitfighters.

From one unit RAF Lyneham grew and grew and Dan claims it was one of the biggest RAF bases in the country.

“It was bigger then it is now,” he said.

“The perimeter fence went right round to where the off-base married quarters are.

“There were so many civilian staff houses were build to accommodate them in Templars Firs, Wootton Bassett.”

But the one thing that really stands out in Dan’s memory was the return of Lebanon hostages Terry Waite, the envoy of the Archbishop of Canterbury, the journalist John McCarthy and the former RAF fighter pilot Jackie Mann.

Between 1982 and 1992, 96 foreign hostages were kidnapped by Hezbollah. At least eight died in captivity.

“I remember the day they returned,” said Dan.

“They were flown in on a VC10 and when they walked off the plane and down the steps a Spitfire flew past and did a victory roll.

“It was a very happy day.

“RAF Lyneham has so much history, so many memories – I will be deeply saddened to see it closed.”