Saturday 26 th June was a day to celebrate when the nation paid tribute to HM Forces on Armed Forces day. 7 cadets and two staff from 487 Sqn attended the parade. The 194 Sqn band who led a large parade in the centre of Birmingham made up of all three services and a total of 37 cadets and 12 staff from Warwickshire and Birmingham Wing represented the Air Training Corps.

The parade marched from Edgbaston Street through a large and appreciative audience, to St Martin’s Church in Digbeth. The parade was then inspected by Admiral Sir Trevor Soar, CinC along with a host of other dignitaries from the Birmingham area.

Following the inspection, all the servicemen and servicewomen along with the cadets and members of the public entered St Martin’s church for a service of thanksgiving. There was a host of addresses made by the differing service representatives attending the parade, along with Admiral Soar. He thanked the people of the West Midlands for the support they gave the armed forces and he said that the troops serving in Afghanistan in particular needed all the support that we could give them.

One of the hardest hitting speeches on the day came from an RAF padre who is based at the Selly Oak hospital in Birmingham. He described in great detail the hardships that troops returning from Afghanistan have gone through and that when they do return that need all the support they can get and that we should never forget them.

Sqn Ldr Bob Foster who commanded the Wing contingent on the day commented “I would like to thank all the cadets and staff who have represented our wing at this parade. It was a very hot day, but the support and help shown to us by members of the public was fantastic. This was a very poignant day and I’m sure we all felt that the church service was particularly good. The 194 Sqn band were excellent and they led the parade extremely well both outside and inside the church. It was also an honour to parade the Wing Standard through the streets of Birmingham”.


Fg Off Simon Jennings
Sqn PR and Communications Officer
487 Sqn