Laying Up Ceremony 10
…... dropped bombs on the enemy. It was a bit like the present day, but the AVM could not see that being the case in a further 100 years’ time. So, he expected that we would have to anticipate a lot of change in the forthcoming 20 to 30 to 40 years; and who could know what a hundred years ahead would really look like in terms of the Royal Air Force.
The Royal Air Force had bought some 300 Hawk T1 aircraft in the 1980s and they had served tremendously well. They would also go on into the future: current plans saw them going out to 2035, and they would be used valiantly, across all sorts of different guises for the Royal Air Force. But, the task of training fighter pilots and bomber pilots for the future had transferred to the Hawk T2, which represented a step change and was light years ahead of where the 1980’s aircraft was.
It was definitely a sad moment to see a squadron close, and the Service was getting smaller. However, at the same time, it was getting more potent and powerful as well in equal regard. Its ability to operate at speed, at range and with lethality had only got greater, but it was definitely smaller, so the ideas and challenges that would be set on new pilots, who would now move on to IV Squadron, would be much more profound and challenging. However, AVM Turner congratulated Wing Commander Kidd on the preparation he had given his trainee pilots in his short tour as CO of 208 Squadron.
Challenging as it would be, AVM Turner was sure
that the Association would play a leading role in the ideas about celebrating the Squadron’s past and reflecting on its potential future. So, for the present, he thanked the Association for its endeavours thus far and what he knew would be its persistence into the future. It was much regretted that the Squadron had been disbanded, but he was sure that everyone would be celebrating its memory, spirit and ethos long into the future.
So, in AVM Turner’s view, for 208 Squadron this would be a pause, not a closure, and everyone should hold on to the heritage that had been quite rightly secured it at Stafford and in Northolt in the right and proper way in order for it to be ready to be re-
In that regard, AVM Turner asked everyone to stand for a final toast:
To the 208 Squadron Association: ‘Forever Vigilant’.
Following the toast, with a final 3 bangs of the gavel, Wing Commander Kidd brought the proceedings, and the history of Naval Eight / 208 Squadron, to a close.
