Christmas apart, but a visit to Ascension Island: Young people’s memories (Part 2)

Continuing our series on real-life Forces children’s experiences, here are some reflections from young people involved in our participation work, beginning with Isabel and Evelyn.

Isabel and Evelyn’s unforgettable trip to Ascension Island

During our dad’s time in the RAF, he had many deployments overseas that were four to six months long. From November 2015 to May 2016, he was deployed to Ascension Island in the South Atlantic Ocean.

Our Christmas card for 2015 reflected on the fact that we were spending another Christmas apart. It was created in two places at the same time, thousands of miles apart.

However, in February 2016, we were lucky enough to be able to go out to Ascension Island and spend six days with our dad, the only opportunity we ever had to join him when he was on deployment; after all, we wouldn’t have gone to a war zone to visit.

Ascension Island is formed of volcanic rock in a tropical climate where the only trees were seen on the mountain in the middle of the island.

We flew out from RAF Brize Norton at night on a huge Voyager Aircraft, surrounded by military personnel travelling to the Falkland Islands for their deployments.

After an 8+ hour flight, we were woken for breakfast just before landing on Ascension. Mum told us to take our jumpers off because it was going to be hot when the door opened.

When it was our turn to disembark, we walked out to a bright hot sun and a barren landscape. Across the tarmac, there were a lot of military personnel, all wearing camouflage uniform, but Isabel spotted dad and she was off, like a bullet out of a gun. Shouting “DADDY” at the top of her voice, she ran as fast as she could through all the people in front of us walking across to the arrivals desk.

She was like a bowling ball and the people were like skittles, moving out of her way at speed.

Evelyn stayed calmly walking with Mum, taking in all the sounds, smells and sights around her. Our week with Dad had begun.

He still had to work a bit, so our time together was precious, but we toured the island. We saw turtles laying eggs, climbed Green Mountain, ate at the American military diner, saw so many wild donkeys, went to a tiny museum that was packed full of the island’s history with the military – dating back to the Navy in the 1800s.

We also got to experience issues with getting food to the island (preparation for COVID food shortages, haha). Dad had had to pre-order food weeks before we arrived.  Fresh food was limited and the shop lacked choice and inventory before the ship arrived with more.

We had an absolutely amazing week, a once in a lifetime opportunity that we will always remember and be grateful for.

The worse part was saying goodbye to Dad. That was when the Wing Commander in charge of the UK military on the island walked us across the runway to the Aircraft and gifted us a Challenge Coin each. We still treasure these memories, the photos and the coin.

More photos and memories from young people

“Here’s three-year-old me wearing my dad’s beret. Being a from a Forces family has given me so many opportunities and is something I am very grateful for. Nothing can replace the sense of pride that is found in our community.” – Sophia

“The best times I’ve ever had related to me being a Forces child would always be when my dad returns from deployment. It’s a whole different feeling seeing him after some time.”  – Theo

“My favourite army event that I remember has to be International Families Day. soldiers and officers from countries across the globe had stalls with food and games from their home countries. There were demonstrations and live music.”  – Lizzie