RAF Welford holds private Remembrance ceremony

Crowds gathered at RAF Welford to honour fallen US and UK servicemen.

Around 100 airmen from the 501st Combat Support Wing, the Royal Air Force and dignitaries congregated at the active airbase to pay their respects to the sacrifices of armed forces veterans.

The private ceremony was held at RAF Welford on Thursday, November 10.

The service was led by Families, Friends & Veterans of Welford chairman Alan Bovingdon Cox, chaplain Maj Angell of RAF Croughton and the Rev Miriam Keen of Great Shefford.

Wreaths were laid by USAF 420th Munitions squadron commander Maj Preston Smith, RAF Brize Norton 101st Sqn Wing Commander Mike Udall, RAF Croughton deputy commander Lt Col David Marce; RAF commander and Sqn Ldr at Fairford, Croughton and Welford Jayne Robertson, Newbury mayor Gary Norman, West Berkshire councillor Clive Hooker; vice-chairman of Chaddleworth Parish Council John Ballard, chairman of Welford and Wickham Parish Council Martyne Ellard and acting chairman of Great Shefford Parish Council Brian Williams.

Also attending the ceremony were representatives from the West Berkshire Parachute Regiment, Royal Air Force Association, Royal British Legion, Welford Historical Society and trumpeter Michael Wooldridge of the Salvation Army in Newbury.

RAF Welford has been active since 1943, serving the USAF in the Second World War and as an ammunition store during the Cold War. It is one of the largest ordnance depots in Western Europe today.