Regiment feel ‘honoured’ to have memorial plaque in cathedral

SERVICEMEN and woman from across the country came to Bury St Edmunds yesterday for a special service to mark the 70th anniversary of the Royal Air Force Regiment.

About 400 people gathered at St Edmundsbury Cathedral for the Evensong service which saw the dedication and blessing of an RAF Regiment memorial tablet in the Edmund Chapel.

Squadron leader Paula Willmot, who is the press officer for RAF Honington, which is where the regiment trains, said service personnel from the regiment’s wings at Honington and across the country had turned out for the occasion.

She described the dedication and blessing of the tablet as a “huge honour” for the regiment.

“To have a tablet in the floor of a cathedral as grand as this, it’s there for perpetuity isn’t it? That’s the honour the regiment feel.”

The Reverend, Wing Commander Jonny Wylie said: “St Edmundsbury Cathedral is the proud custodian of this memorial as a mark of the regiment’s close association with the town.

“The memorial is situated in the cathedral’s Edmund Chapel where we remember all those who have given their lives in service to Church and nation.”

He said the roots of the RAF Regiment went back to 1921 with the formation of the Royal Air Force Armoured Car Companies in the Middle East for service in Egypt and Iraq.

The regiment, which is the ground fighting force of the RAF, was established formally by the Royal Warrant of King George VI on February 1, 1942.

A special service was held at the cathedral in February, which was attended by about 600 service personnel, to mark 70 years of the regiment.