{"id":324222,"date":"2025-08-07T03:51:16","date_gmt":"2025-08-07T03:51:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/324222\/"},"modified":"2025-08-07T03:51:16","modified_gmt":"2025-08-07T03:51:16","slug":"king-visits-scotlands-main-raf-base-and-thanks-families-for-their-sacrifices-the-irish-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/324222\/","title":{"rendered":"King visits Scotland\u2019s main RAF base and thanks families for their sacrifices \u2013 The Irish News"},"content":{"rendered":"

The King has visited Scotland\u2019s main RAF base to re-present a squadron standard to a unit there and thank families for their sacrifices.<\/p>\n

Charles visited RAF Lossiemouth in Moray, northern Scotland, on Wednesday, to attend the stand-up parade for Number 42 (Torpedo Bomber) Squadron.<\/p>\n

He also watched a flypast of two Typhoon bombers and a P-8A Poseidon aircraft, one of nine stationed at the only RAF main operating base in Scotland.<\/p>\n

RAF Lossiemouth is one of two quick reaction alert stations which protect the UK airspace, and the King met families including those of servicepeople based in Cyprus and Poland, where they are defending Nato\u2019s eastern borders.<\/p>\n

\"Mickey<\/a>\"Chagos<\/a><\/p>\n

The King watched a parade including a brass band which played God Save the King twice, and gave a speech where he acknowledged the proximity of VJ Day on August 15 and thanked families for their \u201cencouragement and understanding\u201d which he said was critical to the success of the air force.<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cWith just a week until VJ Day, it is a fitting moment to recall that your aviators flew throughout the Burma Campaign in their Blenheim Bombers and Republic Thunderbolts.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bagpipers greeted Charles as he arrived by helicopter for a private meeting with RAF leaders, and he watched a parade and re-presented a squadron standard which had previously been blessed by a vicar who prayed for the military and their families as well as the monarch.<\/p>\n

The King said: \u201cToday, we also recognise the vital role played by your families and friends, some of whom I am delighted to see can join us today. Their unwavering support is the foundation upon which this squadron\u2019s success is built.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is their encouragement and understanding that enable you all to dedicate yourselves so fully to your duties.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn behalf of the nation, I can only offer all the families my heartfelt thanks for the sacrifices you make and the strength you provide.\u201d<\/p>\n

He praised the \u201cdedication, skill and professionalism\u201d of staff, and added: \u201cThe squadron\u2019s work not only ensures the operational readiness of the Royal Air Force, but also strengthens our bonds with our Nato partners whom you train, including Canada and Norway.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy providing world-leading training to our allies, you contribute to a shared commitment to peace, security and co-operation across the globe.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"CharlesCharles is presented with flowers during his visit to RAF Lossiemouth (Jane Barlow\/PA) <\/p>\n

He also acknowledged his own links to the region, and said RAF Lossiemouth is \u201cthe beating heart of the United Kingdom\u2019s long-range maritime patrol aircraft capability, and an air station at the end of whose runway my old school, Gordonstoun, is situated\u201d.<\/p>\n

He continued: \u201cIn the 1960s, it was the Royal Navy\u2019s Buccaneer aircraft that took off and landed over us and, as part of the Cadet Corps, we regularly used to train or be trained by personnel on the station.\u201d<\/p>\n

The King was given a tour of the squadron buildings and the Poseidon hangar, which houses nine P-8A Poseidon maritime reconnaissance aircrafts which are equipped with weapons systems for anti-submarine warfare as well as surveillance and search and rescue missions.<\/p>\n

Charles was given a tour of one multi-role maritime patrol aircraft and met the crew, who showed him cutting-edge technology to detect, identify and monitor targets, which will be rolled out to Norway, Canada and Germany later this year.<\/p>\n

He toured the plane which has a wingspan of 123ft, is 129ft in length and stands 42ft 9in tall and can carry sonobuoys to search for enemy submarines and can be armed with torpedoes if required.<\/p>\n

\"MembersMembers of the public outside RAF Lossiemouth in Moray (Jane Barlow\/PA) <\/p>\n

The King met members from the Typhoon air wing, senior leadership and representatives from the wider community, including children from the Airplay Youth support programme and their families, who live on, or near, RAF Lossiemouth.<\/p>\n

He also met representatives from community projects including support for families of deployed service personnel, and a community group which is planting Christmas trees in sand dunes at Lossiemouth Beach.<\/p>\n

A little girl presented the King with a bunch of handpicked flowers and he was given a glass holder made from timber from an old bridge on Lossiemouth beach.<\/p>\n

Schoolchildren waved Union flags as they met the King before he left in a BMW.<\/p>\n

Officer commanding training Sergeant Simon Bracknell said: \u201cIt is a really proud day for everyone involved, they worked really hard, even with the storm 24 hours ago with 80mph winds.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe standard that we have marks the squadron\u2019s battle history. For the King to present it is really special.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The King has visited Scotland\u2019s main RAF base to re-present a squadron standard to a unit there and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":324223,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7708],"tags":[7709,7730,7731,15277,1760,2597,117116,2300,117117,5105,7710,519,448,712,16],"class_list":{"0":"post-324222","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-royals","8":"tag-british-royal-family","9":"tag-charles","10":"tag-charles-iii","11":"tag-king","12":"tag-king-charles","13":"tag-military","14":"tag-moray","15":"tag-raf","16":"tag-raf-lossiemouth","17":"tag-royal","18":"tag-royal-families","19":"tag-royal-family","20":"tag-royals","21":"tag-scotland","22":"tag-uk"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114985453832207515","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/324222","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=324222"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/324222\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/324223"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=324222"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=324222"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=324222"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}