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Nimrod Rescue Print
Over the last 2 years Flight Sergeant Andy Redfearn has been selling limited edition prints of his pencil drawing, so far he has raised over £9500 for charity. The drawing depicts the scene of the rescue of a Russian submariner from a Victor III class SSN, operating off the North West Coast of Scotland on 29 February 1996. The submariner, suffering from Appendicitis, was airlifted to hospital in Stornaway by a Royal Navy Sea King helicopter, after a 7 hour protracted search in the middle of a major naval exercise and involved 2 Nimrods, Royal Navy Sea King and Lynx helicopters. The event was unprecedented and generated plenty of media interest; however, the quality of photographs taken suffered due to the poor weather conditions at the time of the airlift. Andy, an amateur artist, who was serving on Nimrods, 206 Squadron, at the time, came up with the idea to draw this historic event, produce prints and sell them in aid of charity. The original idea was to have each of the captains, Russian and British sign the prints.
The drawing was started in January 1997 and completed in May 1998 after well over 200 hours work! The picture stayed firmly on the drawing board as attempts to obtain the submarine captains signature faltered. Over the coming years continued attempts failed, the last information received stated, “The submarines captain had left the service and was untraceable”. In February 2004, after the drawing had languished on the drawing board for almost 6 years, the then Commander-in-Chief Strike Command, Air Chief Marshal Sir Brian Burridge KBC CBE ADC RAF visited No. 8 Squadron where Andy now serves. The Nimrod connection was too great to ignore, Sir Brian is a former Nimrod pilot, Nimrod Operational Conversion Unit Commanding Officer and Station Commander at RAF Kinloss, the home of the Nimrod. When asked if he would like to sign a limited edition of 500 prints he immediately agreed. Sir Brian had also met the submarine captain who had been amazed that his old adversaries were prepared to go to the aid of one of his personnel!
The prints were produced and individually signed by Sir Brian and Andy in August 2004. The prints, dedicated to the Nimrods Search and Rescue role, have been on sale since. Over 400 prints have so far been sold; raising a total of over £9500 for Andy's chosen charities. Nottingham and Lincolnshire Air AmbulanceIn March 2005, Sir Brian visited RAF Waddington again and along with Andy presented £3500 to the Lincolnshire & Nottinghamshire Air Ambulance. The Air Ambulance provides an important and sometimes vital additional patient care service for critically ill and injured patients. Based at RAF Waddington, the helicopter can reach any destination in Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire in 19 minutes. This service is totally reliant on charitable support.
Kursk Kid's FundFrom the outset, Andy always had a desire that some of the money raised would go to a Russian Navy charity; The tragic loss of the KURSK in August 2000 and a recent appeal by the Royal Sailors Rest for further help gave Andy the charity he was looking for. In December 2005, Andy presented £4000 to Gary and Jan Alpin from the RSR Helensburgh- Braeholm at RAF Kinloss. The money has been targeted at a small number of children, although having lost their fathers, had either fallen outside the criteria for state compensation, or have had this frozen until they are 18. The RSR have worked very closely with a Russian lady, Ludmilla Bilitchenko, who was originally asked by the Russian authorities to work with the widows shortly after the disaster. She accompanied 10 of the children on a holiday, organised by the RSR, to Scotland. She was entrusted by the RSR to distribute the remaining funds raised after the disaster. Since then she has continued to work closely with the families and with this donation has again been able to assist those children in need of the greatest help. Ludmilla also requested a print to be displayed, amongst the memorabilia of the KURSK disaster, in the Central Naval Museum in St Petersburg. Russian Signature's
When Ludmilla received the donation she was accompanied by Admiral Michael Kusnetsov, who at the time of the rescue happened to be the commanding officer of the No 7 Submarine Division in which the Victor III, K448 TAMBOV, belonged. Knowing the submarine captain, who had indeed left the service, he has been able to arrange for his signature to be added to the prints. A small number of prints have been sent to Russia to obtain the signatures of the Admiral and Captain 1st Rank Michael Ivanisov. When returned, the Nimrod captain's signatures will be obtained and the very limited number of prints will be auctioned to maximise the next donation after this unique development. Moray Children's Heart AidThe final charity to benefit will be the Moray C hildren's Heart Aid. This charity is local to RAF Kinloss and offers financial and moral support for Morayshire families, dealing with a child with heart problems. When all of the remaining prints are sold the donation should total approximately £4150. Originally a fourth charity, Project Constant Endeavor, was chosen. This was established to commemorate the bravery of those, from all nations, who flew with and supported Coastal Command during World War II. Included within this were memorials in Westminster Abbey and at St Omar in France. Shortly after the prints went on sale it was discovered that this fund was fully-funded and was therefore taken off the list. For further information about obtainig a print, email Andy directly using the following email address:  Prints can also be found on ebay, just search for "Nimrod Rescue". |
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