Moray is gearing up to welcome the Queen’s Baton Relay when it arrives this afternoon to begin its three-day tour of the region.
The Baton will arrive in Keith at around 2.18pm and remain until 2.42pm, before it heads to RAF Lossiemouth for safekeeping overnight.
On Thursday morning the baton will be lowered by RAF Sea King helicopter to an RNLI launch in Buckie harbour at around 8.50am before moving on through Buckie, Cullen, Fochabers, Mosstodloch, Lhanbryde and Lossiemouth before arriving back at RAF Lossiemouth for a formal welcome at 2.05pm.
It will be met at the gates of the RAF Station by the station commander and a parade of RAF personnel. Local schoolchildren and the general public will be able to look on as a flypast from a Typhoon of newly arrived 6 Squadron concludes the event.
Seven Baton Bearers for the Moray relay have been selected to reflect the wide variety of personnel involved in station life and include RAF Personnel, both regular and reservist, MoD civilian staff, volunteers and dependants.
These include Flight Sergeant Mark Lean of 202 Squadron ‘D’ Flight, who has 500 hours on SAR duties and is a holder of the Queen’s Commendation for Bravery. Sgt Lean will be responsible for winching the baton onto an RNLI launch on Thursday.
Group Captain Mark Chappell, Station Commander RAF Lossiemouth said: “It is an honour for RAF Lossiemouth to be invited to host the Queen’s Baton for the 2014 Commonwealth Games.
“This event highlights the incredibly positive impact that Station Personnel and the wider RAF family have in the Local Community. I feel extremely proud to work alongside such a professional and motivated team.”
After leaving RAF Lossiemouth the baton will head for Hopeman and Cummingston before moving on to Kinloss. It will then move on to Forres before heading to Elgin where it will be part of an evening celebration in Cooper Park.
The baton will leave Moray on Friday morning after visiting Rothes and Aberlour.
Full details of the routes being taken by the Queen’s Baton Relay can be found on the Moray Council Website.