Royal Air Force Mountain Rescue Service (United Kingdom)
Encyclopedia
The Royal Air Force Mountain Rescue Service (RAFMRS) provides land rescue over the mountain areas of the United Kingdom. Royal Air Force
Mountain Rescue
Teams (MRTs) were first organised during World War II to rescue aircrew
from the large number of aircraft
crashes then occurring on high ground. The practice at the time was to organise ad-hoc rescue parties from station medical sections and other ground personnel. Experience demonstrated that this could be dangerous. While the mountains of the United Kingdom are not very tall, they contain much formerly glaciated terrain with steep cliffs, talus
slopes, high peaks and cirque
basins, and generally experience a sub-Arctic climate at relatively low altitudes. Snow and high winds, sometimes in excess of 100 mph (161 km/h), are possible any month of the year. Rescue operations in these conditions require personnel with specialized mountaineering
training and equipment. The Royal Air Force Mountain Rescue Teams are credited with some of the earliest development of mountain rescue techniques and teams in the United Kingdom and overseas. Despite potential team reductions under the current UK Coalition Government (2011), RAFMRS teams continue to contribute to life-saving and mountain safety.
in North Wales
in 1943, at RAF Millom (southern Lake District), and at Harpur Hill (Peak District), where Flt Lt (later Air Commodore) David Crichton performed a similar role. Graham's team rescued dozens of allied airmen from Snowdonia before Graham was posted to Burma, where he took part in an early pararescue operation (strikingly similar to one generally credited as the beginning of United States Air Force Pararescue), saving the life of a Royal Canadian Air Force
navigator, Flying Officer
W Prosser.
Shortly after the war the fledgling service was reorganized and retrained along professional grounds through an influx of trained mountaineers, including Sgt Hans Pick, a former Austrian Army Alpine instructor and Sergeant J R "Johnny" Lees, whose involvement with the service is recounted by author and mountain guide
Gwen Moffat
in her 1964 book about the early days of the service. Other notable early team leaders include Squadron Leader David Dattner OBE, Colin Pibworth, and John Hinde.
TX 264 of No. 120 Squadron RAF
, which crashed into Scotland
's 1010 metres (3,314 ft) Beinn Eighe
on 1951-03-14. Recovering all the remains took several months, and led to public criticism of the fledgling service from mountaineering groups, which helped prod the RAF to provide specialized personnel, better training, and proper equipment. Less than a year later, an Aer Lingus
Douglas Dakota crashed into a mountain near Porthmadog
in Snowdonia
with 23 people on board, and RAFMRS personnel recovered the remains.
Over the 1950s, the service became more professional and better coordinated with civilian authorities. Many noteworthy civilian volunteer mountain rescue teams in the UK began as RAFMRS "sub-units." Two air crashes high in the mountains of Turkey
during the 1950s provided call-outs for the first of several overseas teams of the RAFMRS, based at RAF Nicosia
in Cyprus
. Both crashes had a sense of Cold War
espionage, involving secret nuclear papers and equipment. To this day the service's historians feel they lack all the details. Other overseas teams were based in Aden
, Libya
, Yemen
, Dubai
, Oman and Hong Kong
. The middle eastern teams were characterized as "desert rescue," and British Army
personnel were sometimes involved.
The RAF allowed female RAFMRS team members for the first time in 1994, when the then Inspector of Land Rescue, Squadron Leader
Brian Canfer, tired of having to rationalize excluding women to a UK parliamentary all-party group, agreed to a trial of female volunteers. Advice from the Dutch fire service at the time was that they be accepted, but on utterly equal terms regarding physical fitness and mountaineering requirements.
Since their formation the teams have rescued thousands of civilian
walkers and climbers and responded to hundreds of aircraft crashes. Perhaps the most famous call-out of all was for the crash of Pan Am Flight 103
over Lockerbie
, Scotland in 1988, also known as the Lockerbie Air Disaster. This terrorist incident resulted in the scattering of human remains over a wide swath of southern Scotland. The call-out involved four of the six teams then in existence and "stretched the personnel involved to the limits".
may serve as either officers i/c (in charge) or as a Troop, this is not at all the same thing as being the team leader. That position is reserved for a senior NCO
, generally a grizzled veteran. For some, service on a team is a primary duty, and they are known as the Pemanent Staff or PS. For others, it is a part-time activity in addition to their normal RAF Trade or branch for which they are granted relief from other normal secondary duties, such as guard duty.
Most training is done "on the hill", the term for mountaineering training days. Only a minority pass the three-week trial period required to join. Once accepted, new troops are considered "novices." A "badge test" after the first year is the mark of a trained troop, and permits the wearing of the mountain rescue badge on the right fore-sleeve of dress uniform, one of only two special service badges recognized for RAF enlisted men, the other being the badge of a qualified marksman. Walking, mountain navigation, high-angle rescue techniques, rock climbing
, and winter mountaineering are the primary training activities, which are carried out in all weathers. A minority of troops practice fell running
, a traditional country sport in northern England, and excellent training.
A regular troop can expect to spend upwards of a hundred days a year on the hill, which training makes the most seasoned RAFMRS personnel some of the fittest mountaineers in the world. Many Himalayan expeditions have been mounted, or troops and ex-troops have participated in other organizations' expeditions. In 1970, ex-troop Ian Clough died when a serac collapsed on him while descending Annapurna
on an expedition with Chris Bonington
. Other sites for expeditions have included Alaska's Denali, Mt. Everest, and Antarctica, where troops have volunteered for British Antarctic Survey
duties.
Each year for several decades, the service has run separate summer and winter mountaineering courses. The focus is on training lead climbers. USAF pararescue personnel from American air bases in England generally attend. A special course is held when needed every few years to train team leaders.
in North Wales, RAF Leuchars
and RAF Kinloss
in Scotland, and RAF Leeming
in England. There is now a central headquarters administration, previously lacking, associated with the MRT at RAF Valley. Helicopter operations, frequently used in mountain rescue, are conducted in cooperation with No. 202 Squadron RAF
and No. 22 Squadron RAF
. These two squadrons, with the four remaining MRTs and headquarters, and the Rescue Coordination Centre
at RAF Kinloss, comprise RAF Search and Rescue. HRH Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, currently a member of RAF Search and Rescue at RAF Valley
, spent two weeks working with RAF Mountain Rescue in 2005, and Buckingham Palace
cites this as background to his later decision to become the Patron
of Mountain Rescue England and Wales. In the current UK Government defense review, the MRT at RAF Kinloss has been threatened with closure. If this occurs, there will be no military ground rescue service in northern Scotland. The remaining MRT at RAF Leuchars
will be as much as six hours drive from the most remote landward parts of the Highland Region, the Western Isles being yet further and requiring sea or air transport. It is not clear that the current United Kingdom Coalition Government
has realized the loss of life that may ensue, if the cuts take place.
George Medal
:
Member of the British Empire:
British Empire Medal
:
Queen's Commendation for Bravery
:
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
Mountain Rescue
Mountain rescue
Mountain rescue refers to search and rescue activities that occur in a mountainous environment, although the term is sometimes also used to apply to search and rescue in other wilderness environments. The difficult and remote nature of the terrain in which mountain rescue often occurs has resulted...
Teams (MRTs) were first organised during World War II to rescue aircrew
Aircrew
Aircrew are the personnel who operate an aircraft while in flight. The composition of the crew depends on the type of aircraft as well as the purpose of the flight.-Civilian:*Aviator** Pilot-in-command** First officer** Second officer** Third officer...
from the large number of aircraft
Aircraft
An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air, or, in general, the atmosphere of a planet. An aircraft counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines.Although...
crashes then occurring on high ground. The practice at the time was to organise ad-hoc rescue parties from station medical sections and other ground personnel. Experience demonstrated that this could be dangerous. While the mountains of the United Kingdom are not very tall, they contain much formerly glaciated terrain with steep cliffs, talus
Scree
Scree, also called talus, is a term given to an accumulation of broken rock fragments at the base of crags, mountain cliffs, or valley shoulders. Landforms associated with these materials are sometimes called scree slopes or talus piles...
slopes, high peaks and cirque
Cirque
Cirque may refer to:* Cirque, a geological formation* Makhtesh, an erosional landform found in the Negev desert of Israel and Sinai of Egypt*Cirque , an album by Biosphere* Cirque Corporation, a company that makes touchpads...
basins, and generally experience a sub-Arctic climate at relatively low altitudes. Snow and high winds, sometimes in excess of 100 mph (161 km/h), are possible any month of the year. Rescue operations in these conditions require personnel with specialized mountaineering
Mountaineering
Mountaineering or mountain climbing is the sport, hobby or profession of hiking, skiing, and climbing mountains. While mountaineering began as attempts to reach the highest point of unclimbed mountains it has branched into specialisations that address different aspects of the mountain and consists...
training and equipment. The Royal Air Force Mountain Rescue Teams are credited with some of the earliest development of mountain rescue techniques and teams in the United Kingdom and overseas. Despite potential team reductions under the current UK Coalition Government (2011), RAFMRS teams continue to contribute to life-saving and mountain safety.
Foundation
RAF policy from the very early days of 1918 was for the station medical officer to attend all aircraft crashes as, initially at least, the low air speeds meant that many crashes were survivable and first aid would be given before the crews were moved either into Station Sick Quarters or a hospital. A single RAF medical officer, Flight Lieutenant George Desmond Graham (also known as "Doc" Graham), is credited with pressurising the Air Ministry into forming the RAF MRS. Graham was one of several RAF medical doctors who organized teams at RAF LlandwrogRAF Llandwrog
RAF Llandwrog was opened in January 1941 as a RAF Bomber Command airfield for training gunners, radio operators and navigators. It was located at Llandwrog, 4 nautical miles southwest of Caernarfon, Gwynedd, Wales, and it remains in civil operation today as Caernarfon Airport.-World War II:It was...
in North Wales
North Wales
North Wales is the northernmost unofficial region of Wales. It is bordered to the south by the counties of Ceredigion and Powys in Mid Wales and to the east by the counties of Shropshire in the West Midlands and Cheshire in North West England...
in 1943, at RAF Millom (southern Lake District), and at Harpur Hill (Peak District), where Flt Lt (later Air Commodore) David Crichton performed a similar role. Graham's team rescued dozens of allied airmen from Snowdonia before Graham was posted to Burma, where he took part in an early pararescue operation (strikingly similar to one generally credited as the beginning of United States Air Force Pararescue), saving the life of a Royal Canadian Air Force
Royal Canadian Air Force
The history of the Royal Canadian Air Force begins in 1920, when the air force was created as the Canadian Air Force . In 1924 the CAF was renamed the Royal Canadian Air Force and granted royal sanction by King George V. The RCAF existed as an independent service until 1968...
navigator, Flying Officer
Flying Officer
Flying officer is a junior commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence...
W Prosser.
Shortly after the war the fledgling service was reorganized and retrained along professional grounds through an influx of trained mountaineers, including Sgt Hans Pick, a former Austrian Army Alpine instructor and Sergeant J R "Johnny" Lees, whose involvement with the service is recounted by author and mountain guide
Mountain guide
Mountain guides are specially trained and experienced mountaineers and professionals who are generally certified by an association. They are considered experts in mountaineering.-Skills:Their skills usually include climbing, skiing and hiking...
Gwen Moffat
Gwen Moffat
Gwen Moffat is a British climber and writer.Moffat was a free spirit who loved and lived the Bohemian lifestyle through the forties, fifties and sixties, making a living from climbing, and becoming the first female British guide...
in her 1964 book about the early days of the service. Other notable early team leaders include Squadron Leader David Dattner OBE, Colin Pibworth, and John Hinde.
Early history
A mountain rescue operation is known as a "call-out." Particularly noteworthy call-outs include the extended search for the remains of the crew of Avro LancasterAvro Lancaster
The Avro Lancaster is a British four-engined Second World War heavy bomber made initially by Avro for the Royal Air Force . It first saw active service in 1942, and together with the Handley Page Halifax it was one of the main heavy bombers of the RAF, the RCAF, and squadrons from other...
TX 264 of No. 120 Squadron RAF
No. 120 Squadron RAF
No. 120 Squadron of the Royal Air Force operated the Nimrod MR2, based at RAF Kinloss, Moray, Scotland until the type's withdrawal in March 2010.-Formation in WWI:...
, which crashed into Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
's 1010 metres (3,314 ft) Beinn Eighe
Beinn Eighe
Beinn Eighe is a complex mountain massif in the Torridon area of the Highlands of Scotland. It forms a long ridge with many spurs and summits, two of which are classified as Munros. The name Beinn Eighe comes from the Scottish Gaelic meaning File Mountain...
on 1951-03-14. Recovering all the remains took several months, and led to public criticism of the fledgling service from mountaineering groups, which helped prod the RAF to provide specialized personnel, better training, and proper equipment. Less than a year later, an Aer Lingus
Aer Lingus
Aer Lingus Group Plc is the flag carrier of Ireland. It operates a fleet of Airbus aircraft serving Europe and North America. It is Ireland's oldest extant airline, and its second largest after low-cost rival Ryanair...
Douglas Dakota crashed into a mountain near Porthmadog
Porthmadog
Porthmadog , known locally as "Port", and historically rendered into English as Portmadoc, is a small coastal town and community in the Eifionydd area of Gwynedd, in Wales. Prior to the Local Government Act 1972 it was in the administrative county of Caernarfonshire. The town lies east of...
in Snowdonia
Snowdonia
Snowdonia is a region in north Wales and a national park of in area. It was the first to be designated of the three National Parks in Wales, in 1951.-Name and extent:...
with 23 people on board, and RAFMRS personnel recovered the remains.
Over the 1950s, the service became more professional and better coordinated with civilian authorities. Many noteworthy civilian volunteer mountain rescue teams in the UK began as RAFMRS "sub-units." Two air crashes high in the mountains of Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
during the 1950s provided call-outs for the first of several overseas teams of the RAFMRS, based at RAF Nicosia
RAF Nicosia
The former Royal Air Force Station Nicosia, commonly known as RAF Nicosia, was a Royal Air Force airbase in Cyprus. RAF Nicosia was Headquarters Royal Air Force Cyprus from 8 June to 29 July 1941...
in Cyprus
Cyprus
Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
. Both crashes had a sense of Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
espionage, involving secret nuclear papers and equipment. To this day the service's historians feel they lack all the details. Other overseas teams were based in Aden
Aden
Aden is a seaport city in Yemen, located by the eastern approach to the Red Sea , some 170 kilometres east of Bab-el-Mandeb. Its population is approximately 800,000. Aden's ancient, natural harbour lies in the crater of an extinct volcano which now forms a peninsula, joined to the mainland by a...
, Libya
Libya
Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
, Yemen
Yemen
The Republic of Yemen , commonly known as Yemen , is a country located in the Middle East, occupying the southwestern to southern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the north, the Red Sea to the west, and Oman to the east....
, Dubai
Dubai
Dubai is a city and emirate in the United Arab Emirates . The emirate is located south of the Persian Gulf on the Arabian Peninsula and has the largest population with the second-largest land territory by area of all the emirates, after Abu Dhabi...
, Oman and Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
. The middle eastern teams were characterized as "desert rescue," and British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
personnel were sometimes involved.
The RAF allowed female RAFMRS team members for the first time in 1994, when the then Inspector of Land Rescue, Squadron Leader
Squadron Leader
Squadron Leader is a commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence. It is also sometimes used as the English translation of an equivalent rank in countries which have a non-English air force-specific rank structure. In these...
Brian Canfer, tired of having to rationalize excluding women to a UK parliamentary all-party group, agreed to a trial of female volunteers. Advice from the Dutch fire service at the time was that they be accepted, but on utterly equal terms regarding physical fitness and mountaineering requirements.
Since their formation the teams have rescued thousands of civilian
Civilian
A civilian under international humanitarian law is a person who is not a member of his or her country's armed forces or other militia. Civilians are distinct from combatants. They are afforded a degree of legal protection from the effects of war and military occupation...
walkers and climbers and responded to hundreds of aircraft crashes. Perhaps the most famous call-out of all was for the crash of Pan Am Flight 103
Pan Am Flight 103
Pan Am Flight 103 was Pan American World Airways' third daily scheduled transatlantic flight from London Heathrow Airport to New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport...
over Lockerbie
Lockerbie
Lockerbie is a town in the Dumfries and Galloway region of south-western Scotland. It lies approximately from Glasgow, and from the English border. It had a population of 4,009 at the 2001 census...
, Scotland in 1988, also known as the Lockerbie Air Disaster. This terrorist incident resulted in the scattering of human remains over a wide swath of southern Scotland. The call-out involved four of the six teams then in existence and "stretched the personnel involved to the limits".
Training
All RAF MRT members are volunteers. For reasons lost to history, RAFMRS team members are known as "M.R. troops" or just "troops." Traditionally, team membership is reserved for enlisted men and women; although officersOfficer (armed forces)
An officer is a member of an armed force or uniformed service who holds a position of authority. Commissioned officers derive authority directly from a sovereign power and, as such, hold a commission charging them with the duties and responsibilities of a specific office or position...
may serve as either officers i/c (in charge) or as a Troop, this is not at all the same thing as being the team leader. That position is reserved for a senior NCO
Non-commissioned officer
A non-commissioned officer , called a sub-officer in some countries, is a military officer who has not been given a commission...
, generally a grizzled veteran. For some, service on a team is a primary duty, and they are known as the Pemanent Staff or PS. For others, it is a part-time activity in addition to their normal RAF Trade or branch for which they are granted relief from other normal secondary duties, such as guard duty.
Most training is done "on the hill", the term for mountaineering training days. Only a minority pass the three-week trial period required to join. Once accepted, new troops are considered "novices." A "badge test" after the first year is the mark of a trained troop, and permits the wearing of the mountain rescue badge on the right fore-sleeve of dress uniform, one of only two special service badges recognized for RAF enlisted men, the other being the badge of a qualified marksman. Walking, mountain navigation, high-angle rescue techniques, rock climbing
Rock climbing
Rock climbing also lightly called 'The Gravity Game', is a sport in which participants climb up, down or across natural rock formations or artificial rock walls. The goal is to reach the summit of a formation or the endpoint of a pre-defined route without falling...
, and winter mountaineering are the primary training activities, which are carried out in all weathers. A minority of troops practice fell running
Fell running
Fell running, also known as mountain running and hill running, is the sport of running and racing, off road, over upland country where the gradient climbed is a significant component of the difficulty...
, a traditional country sport in northern England, and excellent training.
A regular troop can expect to spend upwards of a hundred days a year on the hill, which training makes the most seasoned RAFMRS personnel some of the fittest mountaineers in the world. Many Himalayan expeditions have been mounted, or troops and ex-troops have participated in other organizations' expeditions. In 1970, ex-troop Ian Clough died when a serac collapsed on him while descending Annapurna
Annapurna
Annapurna is a section of the Himalayas in north-central Nepal that includes Annapurna I, thirteen additional peaks over and 16 more over ....
on an expedition with Chris Bonington
Chris Bonington
Sir Christian John Storey Bonington, CVO, CBE, DL is a British mountaineer.His career has included nineteen expeditions to the Himalayas, including four to Mount Everest and the first ascent of the south face of Annapurna.-Early life and expeditions:Educated at University College School in...
. Other sites for expeditions have included Alaska's Denali, Mt. Everest, and Antarctica, where troops have volunteered for British Antarctic Survey
British Antarctic Survey
The British Antarctic Survey is the United Kingdom's national Antarctic operation and has an active role in Antarctic affairs. BAS is part of the Natural Environment Research Council and has over 400 staff. It operates five research stations, two ships and five aircraft in and around Antarctica....
duties.
Each year for several decades, the service has run separate summer and winter mountaineering courses. The focus is on training lead climbers. USAF pararescue personnel from American air bases in England generally attend. A special course is held when needed every few years to train team leaders.
Current organization and deployment
After a recent consolidation, the RAFMRS today comprises four teams, based at RAF ValleyRAF Valley
RAF Valley is a Royal Air Force station on the island of Anglesey, Wales, and which is also used as Anglesey Airport. It provides fast-jet training using the BAE Hawk and provides training for aircrew working with Search and Rescue. Unofficially the motto for RAF Valley is 'One Valley, Training...
in North Wales, RAF Leuchars
RAF Leuchars
RAF Leuchars is the most northerly air defence station in the United Kingdom. It is located in Leuchars, Fife, on the east coast of Scotland, near to the university town of St Andrews.-Operations:...
and RAF Kinloss
RAF Kinloss
RAF Kinloss is a Royal Air Force station near Kinloss, on the Moray Firth in the north of Scotland. It opened on 1 April 1939 and served as an RAF training establishment during the Second World War. After the war it was handed over to Coastal Command to watch over Russian ships and submarines in...
in Scotland, and RAF Leeming
RAF Leeming
RAF Leeming is a Royal Air Force station in North Yorkshire, UK.HRH The Duchess of Cornwall is the Honorary Air Commodore of RAF Leeming. The Station Commander is Group Captain Anthony Innes....
in England. There is now a central headquarters administration, previously lacking, associated with the MRT at RAF Valley. Helicopter operations, frequently used in mountain rescue, are conducted in cooperation with No. 202 Squadron RAF
No. 202 Squadron RAF
No. 202 Squadron of the Royal Air Force presently operates the Sea King HAR.3 in the Search and rescue role at three stations in the northern half of the United Kingdom. It was originally formed as one of the first aeroplane squadrons of the RNAS before it became part of the RAF.-Formation and...
and No. 22 Squadron RAF
No. 22 Squadron RAF
No. 22 Squadron of the Royal Air Force operates the Sea King HAR.3 and HAR.3A at three stations in the southern United Kingdom. The squadron was originally formed in 1915 as an aerial reconnaissance unit of the Royal Flying Corps serving on the Western Front during First World War...
. These two squadrons, with the four remaining MRTs and headquarters, and the Rescue Coordination Centre
ARCC
The United Kingdom's Aeronautical Rescue Coordination Centre is based at RAF Kinloss, near Forres in Moray.-Structure:The centre is responsible for coordinating all RAF, Royal Navy and Maritime and Coastguard Agency Search and Rescue helicopters, and also the Royal Air Force Mountain Rescue Service...
at RAF Kinloss, comprise RAF Search and Rescue. HRH Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, currently a member of RAF Search and Rescue at RAF Valley
RAF Valley
RAF Valley is a Royal Air Force station on the island of Anglesey, Wales, and which is also used as Anglesey Airport. It provides fast-jet training using the BAE Hawk and provides training for aircrew working with Search and Rescue. Unofficially the motto for RAF Valley is 'One Valley, Training...
, spent two weeks working with RAF Mountain Rescue in 2005, and Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace, in London, is the principal residence and office of the British monarch. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is a setting for state occasions and royal hospitality...
cites this as background to his later decision to become the Patron
Patrón
Patrón is a luxury brand of tequila produced in Mexico and sold in hand-blown, individually numbered bottles.Made entirely from Blue Agave "piñas" , Patrón comes in five varieties: Silver, Añejo, Reposado, Gran Patrón Platinum and Gran Patrón Burdeos. Patrón also sells a tequila-coffee blend known...
of Mountain Rescue England and Wales. In the current UK Government defense review, the MRT at RAF Kinloss has been threatened with closure. If this occurs, there will be no military ground rescue service in northern Scotland. The remaining MRT at RAF Leuchars
RAF Leuchars
RAF Leuchars is the most northerly air defence station in the United Kingdom. It is located in Leuchars, Fife, on the east coast of Scotland, near to the university town of St Andrews.-Operations:...
will be as much as six hours drive from the most remote landward parts of the Highland Region, the Western Isles being yet further and requiring sea or air transport. It is not clear that the current United Kingdom Coalition Government
Premiership of David Cameron
The premiership of David Cameron began on 11 May 2010 when Cameron accepted the Queen's invitation to form a government. This occurred upon the resignation of Cameron's predecessor as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Gordon Brown...
has realized the loss of life that may ensue, if the cuts take place.
Awards and decorations
The following major UK Forces decorations have been awarded to past and serving members of the RAFMRS:George Medal
George Medal
The George Medal is the second level civil decoration of the United Kingdom and Commonwealth.The GM was instituted on 24 September 1940 by King George VI. At this time, during the height of The Blitz, there was a strong desire to reward the many acts of civilian courage...
:
- Flt Sgt J R Lees, for Amphitheatre Buttress rescue, 1958
Member of the British Empire:
- Flt Lt G Graham, for services to mountain rescue, 1943
- Flt Lt D Crichton, for services to mountain rescue, 1946
- Flt Lt R Robertson, for Mt SuphanMount SüphanMount Süphan , is a stratovolcano located in eastern Turkey, immediately north of Lake Van. It is the second highest volcano in Turkey, after the mount Ararat.-External links:*...
(Turkey) call-out, 1959 - Sqn Ldr J Sims, for services to mountain rescue, 1967
- Sqn Ldr G Blackburn, for services to mountain rescue, 1984
- Sqn Ldr W Gault, for Lockerbie Air Disaster, 1989
- Flt Sgt J A F Coull FRGS, for services to mountain rescue, 2001
- Flt Sgt D Whalley, for services to mountain rescue, 2002
British Empire Medal
British Empire Medal
The Medal of the Order of the British Empire for Meritorious Service, usually known as the British Empire Medal , is a British medal awarded for meritorious civil or military service worthy of recognition by the Crown...
:
- CplCorporalCorporal is a rank in use in some form by most militaries and by some police forces or other uniformed organizations. It is usually equivalent to NATO Rank Code OR-4....
G McTigue, for services to mountain rescue, 1943 - SACSenior AircraftmanSenior Aircraftman , or Senior Aircraftwoman , is a rank in the Royal Air Force, ranking between Leading Aircraftman and Senior Aircraftman Technician and having a NATO rank code of OR-2. The rank, which is non-supervisory, was introduced on 1 January 1951...
M Brown, for Beinn EigheBeinn EigheBeinn Eighe is a complex mountain massif in the Torridon area of the Highlands of Scotland. It forms a long ridge with many spurs and summits, two of which are classified as Munros. The name Beinn Eighe comes from the Scottish Gaelic meaning File Mountain...
call-out, 1952 - Cpl C D Austin, for services to mountain rescue, 1952
- SgtSergeantSergeant is a rank used in some form by most militaries, police forces, and other uniformed organizations around the world. Its origins are the Latin serviens, "one who serves", through the French term Sergent....
J Mooring, for services to mountain rescue, 1958 - Flt Sgt H Appleby, for Mt SuphanMount SüphanMount Süphan , is a stratovolcano located in eastern Turkey, immediately north of Lake Van. It is the second highest volcano in Turkey, after the mount Ararat.-External links:*...
(Turkey) call-out, 1959 - Sgt J Emmerson, for Mt Suphan (Turkey) call-out, 1959
- SAC G Murphy, for Mt Suphan (Turkey) call-out, 1959
- Sgt J Steed, for services to mountain rescue, 1960
- Flt Sgt JR Lees, for services to mountain rescue, 1962
- Flt Sgt W Brankin, for services to mountain rescue, 1963
- Sgt G Patterson, for Wadi Mukeiras call-out, 1959
- Chf TechChief TechnicianChief technician is a non-commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force which is only held by airmen in technical trades and by musicians. It is between sergeant and flight sergeant and, like the latter has a NATO code of OR-7. Airmen in non-technical trades progress directly from sergeant to flight...
J Hinde, for services to mountain rescue, 1964 - Sgt P McGowan, for services to mountain rescue, 1971
- Cpl C Pibworth, for services to mountain rescue and desert rescue, 1972
- Flt Sgt J Tunnah, for services to mountain rescue, 1972
- Flt Sgt G Bruce, for services to mountain rescue and Elephant Island Expedition, 1973
- Flt Sgt H Oldham, for services to mountain rescue, 1976
- Flt Sgt R Sefton, for services to mountain rescue, 1977
- Flt Sgt J Baines, for services to mountain rescue, 1979
- Chf Tech J Craig, for services to mountain rescue, 1979
- Flt Sgt A Haveron, for services to mountain rescue, 1984
- Flt Sgt D Shanks, for services to mountain rescue, 1986
- Flt Sgt K Taylor, for services to mountain rescue, 1987
- Flt Sgt P Weatherill, for services to mountain rescue, 1987
- Flt Sgt D Whalley, for services to mountain rescue, 1992
- Flt Sgt P Kirkpatrick, for services to mountain rescue, 1993
Queen's Commendation for Bravery
Queen's Commendation for Bravery
The Queen's Commendation for Bravery is one of the United Kingdom awards granted for bravery entailing risk to life and meriting national recognition, but not at the level of the Queen's Gallantry Medal. The award may be granted posthumously and is not restricted to British subjects...
:
- SAC G Hercod, for Mt SuphanMount SüphanMount Süphan , is a stratovolcano located in eastern Turkey, immediately north of Lake Van. It is the second highest volcano in Turkey, after the mount Ararat.-External links:*...
(Turkey) call-out, 1959 - Flt Sgt G Bruce, call out for missing school party on CairngormsCairngormsThe Cairngorms are a mountain range in the eastern Highlands of Scotland closely associated with the mountain of the same name - Cairn Gorm.-Name:...
, 1971 - Sgt W Batson, for Lockerbie Air Disaster, 1989
- Sgt P Winn, for Lockerbie Air Disaster, 1989
- Flt Sgt D Whalley, for Lockerbie Air Disaster, 1989