The Duke of York will take the salute when two of Moray’s famous Tornado squadrons march through Lossiemouth for the last time.
617(Dambuster) Squadron and 12(Bomber) Squadron disband at RAF Lossiemouth at the end of this month – but they are not going quietly, with a final parade through the town promising to be a memorable one with flypasts from both RAF and Royal Navy aircraft scheduled to take part.
Prince Andrew is an honorary Air Commodore at RAF Lossiemouth and it is in that capacity that he will take the final salute when the two squadrons bid their farewell to the local community.
The Prince saw active service in the Falklands conflict when he flew a Sea King – he was later promoted to Honorary Rear Admiral on the occasion of his 50th birthday in 2010.
Both the disbanded squadrons have served in Afghanistan over the last year. They will be replaced at Lossiemouth by 6 Squadron and their Typhoon jets being redeployed from RAF Leuchars ahead of its closure. No 1 Squadron will also deploy to Lossiemouth in September.
A third Typhoon squadron is scheduled to be formed at the Moray base in March 2015.
RAF Lossiemouth will issue full details this month on the farewell parade, which is scheduled to take place on Friday, March 28.