Service and display at Morayvia remembers RAF aircrews who died in Nimrod incidents

LOCAL heroes who lost their lives during armed service were remembered at a service in Kinloss on Friday, August 26.

Members of the military community from home and abroad gathered for the ceremony at Morayvia aviation museum to pay respect to the RAF aircrews who died in separate Nimrod incidents over three decades.

Former Master Air Electronics Operator, Al Mackie MBE, survived the 1980 incident and cut a ribbon at the service.

He said: “Forty-one people were directly involved in these three tragic events. Eighteen of us were fortunate to survive. On behalf of the other seventeen survivors, I am humbled to unveil this memorial to our fallen comrades.”

Leaders from RAF Lossiemouth and Kinloss Barracks were joined by counterparts from the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) and the Royal Australian Air Force, as well as the families of crew members who were involved.

The tail of Toronto Nimrod XV239 was to be disposed of in Canada, having fallen into disrepair. However, Morayvia recovered it with RCAF assistance from Canada to the UK. It will now be displayed as a memorial to the incident at Lake Ontario in 1995, as well as incidents in 1980 at Kinloss and in 2006 over the skies of Afghanistan.

RAF Kinloss was home to many of the RAF’s fleet of maritime patrol nimrods. The aircraft’s crews carried out patrol and reconnaissance duties and saw active service across the world. The aircraft was retired in 2011 before the RAF moved out of Kinloss to be replaced by the Army.

The RAF’s replacement for the Nimrod, the Boeing P-8 Poseidon, is now based at RAF Lossiemouth. The nine aircraft used by 120 and 201 Squadrons are the UK’s maritime patrol and reconnaissance capability. They most recently helped rescue two stranded rowers miles off the coast of England.