By Ambassador Stewart Eldon

 

 

At a ceremony on the 11th July, Her Majesty the Queen presented new colours to the Royal Air Force and the RAF Regiment to mark the 90th Anniversary of the RAF.  The Ceremony was broadcast live on British television and watched by millions of people.

I was privileged to be invited to the formal Anniversary Dinner afterwards.  It was an impressive occasion attended by over 20 overseas Chiefs of Air Staff.  Baroness Taylor, the Minister for Defence Equipment, gave a keynote speech.  Before the Dinner the band of the Royal Air Force beat the retreat.  A spitfire and a Typhoon (Euro-Fighter) flew low overhead as Air Chief Marshal Sir Glen Torpy took the salute, symbolising the old and the new.  

Bad weather and waterlogged car parks meant the International Air Tattoo planned for the weekend had to be cancelled.  But I was able to see some of the impressive static displays, and to meet former NATO MilReps - Air Chief Marshal Sir Michael Knight and Air Chief Marshal Sir John Cheshire - who are heavily involved in the work of the RAF International Charitable Trust.

All in all, I was struck once again by the immense professionalism of our servicemen and women, many of whom took part in the static display in desert flying kit from Afghanistan and Iraq.  Like the flypast on 11 July, the display was a wonderful blend of old and new, ranging from World War I biplanes to the latest fighter and airborne radar aircraft.  A fitting tribute to the Royal Air Force.