On Sunday 12th May, and with kind permission of the PCC, the No 3(F) Squadron Standard will be laid up in our Village Church with “safe lodging in the House of God until such time it should pass to dust like those whose courage and devotion are enshrined in its history”.
No3(F) Sqn was formed at Larkhill on 11th May 1912 as the first squadron in the Royal Flying Corps to be equipped with fixed wing aircraft. The squadron spent the first two years of its existence on Salisbury Plain before deploying to France in August 1914. Chitterne therefore is a most appropriate final resting place for a No3 (F) Sqn consecrated Standard which bears battle honours including Mons, Somme, Cambrai, Battle of Britain, Normandy and Arnhem. More recently the Squadron has been in action over Kosovo, Sierra Leone, Iraq, Afghanistan and Lybia. The Service, with full ceremonial, will start at 11am and a flypast of a Hurricane and Typhoon is planned for mid day.