WATCH: RAF Lossiemouth Station Commander delighted to see community turn out for lighting of Queen's Platinum Jubilee beacon on East Beach
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A LARGE crowd turned out to see the lighting of the Queen's Platinum Jubilee beacon on the East Beach in Lossiemou on Thursday night.
The beacon was constructed by RAF Lossiemouth and its station commander Group Captain Chris Layden and one of Moray's depute lord lieutenants, Joan Cowe, who lives in Lossiemouth, jointly lit the beacon. Piper Matthew Smith, a volunteer member of the RAF Lossiemouth Pipes and Drums, played people across the bridge.
He and bugler Maciej Meszka, a member of the RAF Lossiemouth Band, played at the beacon. The RAF Lossiemouth Military Wives Choir also sung a specially commissioned song for the Jubilee.
Group Captain Layden said: "It's a fantastic occasion. And what makes it all the better is to see so many of the community here, standing side by side with each other at an event we will only see once in a lifetime and yet brings us all together in a way almost nothing else can.
"I will give a shout out to a young man called Neil, a corporal, who is the principal architect of this beacon. The fact that everything from making the beacon, getting it over here, marshalling the people, having our fantastic military wives choir, a piper and a bugler; it is a delight to be part of it.
"Isn't it great that the weather has been fantastic since the bridge opened again."
Personnel and aircraft from RAF Lossiemouth played a big part in the Jubilee flypast over Buckingham Palace on Thursday, with eight typhoons from the Moray base and a poseidon all involved.
Added Gp Cpt Layden: "The Typhoon 70, the zero of the 70 was all RAF Lossiemouth typhoons and pilots. We deployed a whole squadron down there and they had been practising for a week.
"At the same time as we had aircraft over Buckingham Palace to pay tribute to her majesty, we had aircraft airborne over the Middle East and Eastern Europe, facing off against the Russian threat, and as always we had airplanes at instant readiness to defend the UK skies and it wasn't just the Typhoons, we had a Poseidon in the flypast as well.
"We serve her majesty and are her Royal Air Force. It's an inspiration for all of us in the service to be able to celebrate this occasion because it comes once in a lifetime."
