Medals for RAF Lossiemouth personnel
MEN and women from 617 (Dambusters) Squadron will receive medals for their tour of duty in Afghanistan at RAF Lossiemouth on Friday.
Personnel will be presented with their operational service medal in front of family and friends in the officers’ mess.
Long service and good conduct medals, commendations and a Royal Warrant will also be awarded.
In the course of their Afghanistan tour the Dambusters flew more than 420 sorties, accumulating over 1,300 hours in the air providing close support and reconnaissance to coalition forces.
They were also in action 68 years to the day after the raid on the German dams that gave the squadron their nickname.
This medal presentation ceremony is the first to take place following the announcement that RAF Lossiemouth is to remain open and become home to the Typhoon aircraft.
The high profile campaign to save the base was given credit for persuading the Government to keep Lossiemouth as an RAF station.
It included a battle bus travelling from Moray to Downing Street to deliver a 32,000 signature petition against the closure to Prime Minister David Cameron.
Also, several thousand people took to the streets of Lossiemouth last November to protest against the proposal.
See tomorrow’s ‘Northern Scot’ newspaper for a special supplement celebrating the retention of RAF Lossiemouth.
