16073/2GAZETTE & HERALD: There were laughs and tears as Col Knight arrived at a ten-pin bowling tournament in memory of her fianc Lyneham hero, Sergeant Bob O'Connor.

Saturday's tournament at the Swindon Megabowl, which will now become an annual event, was attended by present and former pupils of the Swindon Youth Bowling Club in gratitude to the 38-year-old Lyneham man who co-founded the club along with Miss Knight almost 15 years ago.

Sgt O'Connor was one of ten servicemen killed when their Hercules aircraft crashed in Iraq at the end of January.

Miss Knight who was due to marry Sgt O'Connor on his return from Iraq attended the tournament and made the presentation to the winners.

Dave Arthur, chief instructor at the club, organised the event in memory of his close friend. He said: "It was a brilliant morning and lots of people made a real effort to be there. It was great to see old faces and it's exactly what Bob would have wanted."

Sgt O'Connor and partner Miss Knight were both phase four coaches and spent hours coaching and organising young players until work commitments led them to stand down in 1999.

In an emotional reunion many of the players once coached by Sgt O'Connor and Miss Knight returned for the tournament.

Mr Arthur, 51, of West Swindon, said: "I told all the old members to hide behind the bar so it was a complete surprise for Col because she didn't know they were coming.

"She hadn't seen some of them for five or six years so it was like a school reunion. She did have a cry but after that she couldn't get the smile off her face for the next three hours."

And there were plenty of smiles and laughter as old members taught new members all the age-old excuses.

"Some of the youngsters got very close to beating the more experienced players and there were lots of cries of 'my thumb got stuck'. By the end of the morning my chuckle muscles were absolutely exhausted," said Mr Arthur.

Younger members, who did not know Sgt

O'Connor, were told all about the man who started the club and whose patience has been likened to that of a saint.

"We showed them all pictures of Bob so they could put a face to the name of the man that has made all this possible. I now have four people doing the job that Bob and Col did, which gives an indication of how much they did," said Mr Arthur.

"He was a real diamond of a man and nothing was too much for him."

In Division One the tournament winner was 16-year-old James Footner, with 13-year-old Shaun Murphy winning Division Two.

There were also mixed emotions when Lyneham Radio, RAF Lyneham's own radio station, celebrated its first birthday with a 30-hour live broadcast marathon.

Lyneham Radio is the first volunteer station in the RAF and a team of presenters set up at the Hive, the main community area, to undertake the 30-hour broadcast last week.

The radio station broadcasts to the staff at RAF Lyneham, as well as the local community around the camp, playing lots of music as well as giving out information about current and future events relevant to RAF Lyneham personnel, their families and those in the local area.

"We had 13 people broadcasting that day," said Corporal Simon Lonsdale.

"Normally we have from four to six hours live broadcasting every week day. People give up their own time to do it. We have a small but enthusiastic team."

The radio station will take another big step forwards next month when it is streamed through the Internet and RAF Lyneham personnel all over the world will be able to tune in to the latest news, happenings and music.

With people posted as far afield as Iraq, Afghanistan, Africa and the Falkland Islands, the sound of Radio Lyneham will reach every corner of the world.

Lyneham Radio broadcasts on 1449 Medium Wave (AM).

The party was an ideal opportunity to promote the radio station and to encourage additional volunteers to help the station.

The event was also attended by the Station Commander, Group Captain Paul Oborn. "Without his support we would never have been able to get the radio station going," said Cpl Lonsdale.