FOR new mum Jo Halden this Sunday will be a day to honour the memory of the dad she tragically never met.

Flying Officer Ian ‘Mongo’ Halden was 25 years old and looking forward to the birth of his first child when, on October 30, 1991, he was killed during a training mission near the Falkland Islands.

F-4 Phantom pilot Ian and his navigator, Flight Lieutenant Chris ‘CJ’ Weightman, both from 19 (F) Squadron, disappeared into cloud cover that day and were never seen again.

A five day search recovered only small amounts of wreckage in the South Atlantic.

His devastated wife Louise, just 23 at the time, gave birth to a daughter four weeks after the tragedy at RAF Wildenrath in Germany where the couple had been living.

Following Ian’s death Louise and her newborn daughter Jo had to relocate back to the UK.

“That was when the RAF Benevolent Fund first stepped in to help support my mum,” said Jo, 25, who lives in Walkford.

“They helped mum find a new house near to her parents in Bournemouth and she was able to raise me close to family and friends who could all be there for us after we lost dad.”

The RAF Benevolent Fund also helped Jo with her education, supporting the costs of her fees at Christ’s Hospital School in Horsham, a place close to her dad’s heart.

“My dad and his brother both went to Christ’s Hospital when they were younger and dad always said to my mum that when they had children he wanted them to be educated there too,” she added.

“If it wasn’t for the charity’s help I would never be where I am now. I can’t thank them enough.”

The support of the charity and loss of her father has been even more at the forefront of Jo’s mind recently following the birth of her first child Ella in December, with partner Lee.

Jo was determined that her dad’s memory continued with her daughter which is why she has the surname Halden-Mayne.

Ian’s memory will also be celebrated on Sunday when Jo and mum Louise organise their own Great British Sunday Lunch in aid of the charity.