75 th and 80 th Anniversaries
Modern Mobilisations
ROYAL AUXILIARY AIR FORCE I 100 th ANNIVERSARY
75 th and 80 th Anniversaries
The RAuxAF marked its 75 th Anniversary with a ceremony at Sandringham House and the presentation of a bronze eagle to Her Majesty the Queen , the RAuxAF Air Commodore in Chief . In 2000 , the RAuxAF hosted Her Majesty and His Royal Highness , the Duke of Edinburgh ,
at a Royal Reception held in the RAF Club , an event which again took place in 2005 to mark the 80 th Anniversary . The Golden Eagle was a gift to Her Majesty to mark the Golden Anniversary of her reign in 2003 .
Presentation of the Sovereigns Eagle at Sandringham 2003
RAuxAF 80 th Reception at the RAF Club 2005
Modern Mobilisations
Although members of 4624 and 4626 Sqns were mass mobilised in 1990 for OP GRANBY ( 1 st Gulf War ) and provided mobilised personnel for subsequent Ops including those in the Former Yugoslavia , in 2003 the RAuxAF successfully completed its first large-scale mobilisation since the Korean emergency 50 years earlier . OP TELIC ( Iraq ) saw more than 900 personnel ( 70 % of trained strength ) being mobilised and deployed in UK and overseas . Mobilised support has continued ever since including OP HERRICK ( Afghanistan ), OP ELLAMY ( Libya ) OP SHADER ( Syria / Iraq ) and the OP GRITROCK ( Sierra Leonne ), NATO Air Policing ops , and of course the ongoing mobilisations to the South Atlantic . In 2010 , this contribution of the RAuxAF to Operations was recognised at the highest level with the presentation of a new Sovereign ’ s Colour for the Royal Air Force which was presented by the Queen at RAF Marham .
to September 2020 , over 500 RAuxAF personnel were mobilised across the country to contribute to the fight against COVID ( OP RESCRIPT ), most operating as members of the testing teams . It must be noted that at the same time , mobilisations continued for ongoing operations , and specialists such as the medics , and other key workers were contributing directly in their civilian roles . Support to OP RESCRIPT continued through to 2021 , with a number of personnel utilising their RSD ’ s .
More recently in 2020 , in response to the COVID 19 Pandemic , the RAuxAF was called upon again to step up in support and during the period April
A mobile testing team in action
Testing team at Brize Norton in Dec 20 meeting CAS
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