In preparation for Armistice Day 2024, Whole Force personnel at RAF St Mawgan worked hard to make the Station’s memorial stand out from the rest.
Back in March, RAF St Mawgan was delighted to have been chosen as the launch location for 2024’s ‘Ribbon of Poppies’ initiative, which aims to create a living memorial to those who have lost their lives as a result of war. At the launch, veterans and Service children joined Station personnel to sow poppy seeds around the Station memorial stone – this also sowed a seed for the Station Commander, Wing Commander Helen Simpson. Determined to showcase the skills of her people and build on the existing connections with local schools and Service charities, she tasked ‘Team St Mawgan’ with creating a more permanent Area of Reflection to enhance the existing monument.
Weeks of hard work by the Station’s General Engineering Flight (GEF), the People & Families Support and Communications & Engagement teams have seen the area transformed. Metal silhouettes of Armed Forces personnel reflecting the tri-Service nature of RAF St Mawgan now dominate the skyline. Bespoke wooden planters provide a home for stunning scallop shell poppies, made by local school children; youth groups; Air Cadets; and Station Personnel, to provide vibrancy to the area on even the greyest of Cornish days.
On Armistice Day, the Station’s Service and civilian personnel came together with representatives from schools and youth groups who had been involved with the poppy project, and over 20 invited veterans, where the enhancements provided a beautiful focal point for the Station’s Act of Remembrance. The service culminated in wreaths being laid by senior representatives of all three Services; Royal British Legion (St Columb); RAF Association (St Mawgan); and The Veterans’ Charity; with tributes laid by and on behalf of the family of Flight Lieutenant Gareth Nicholas (to whom the Station memorial stone is dedicated); and more shell poppies ‘planted’ by the children.
It is fitting today, as we commemorate and reflect on the sacrifice of so many Service personnel, that we can also celebrate the pride and passion of our people and our local community. The beautiful additions that have been created around our memorial give us a wonderful opportunity to not only provide an important Area of Reflection for all of those stationed here at RAF St Mawgan, but also to continue to engage with our local schools and youth groups where we can help bring to life the core values around Remembrance for a new generation.
Wing Commander Helen Simpson MA BSc (Hons) RAF
It has been a joy working with the team at RAF St Mawgan. Seeing how our ‘Ribbon of Poppies’ initiative has been so enthusiastically embraced and developed is really special. We adapted an idea on making shell wreaths from the team at ‘Battling On CIC’ and the links to Cornwall are clear to see, with the shells from the seas surrounding the County where much of the preparation for the D-Day landings took place. We had been touring a shell wreath around UK sites connected to D-Day earlier this year, and when we brought it here to RAF St Mawgan in May the Station Commander was intrigued by the links with the Station’s Coastal Command heritage. Thanks to local fishmongers in the Newlyn area, we were able to provide the team with plenty of shells, and the Eden Project provided Cornish cane bamboo for the stems. I think the poppies they have created look absolutely brilliant and are an incredibly fitting addition to the memorial.
Iain Henderson The Veterans’ Charity
