One hundred days after the RAF’s official 100th birthday on 1 April, the RAF will mark 100 years of operations today with a series of spectacular events in London.

Over 1,000 RAF servicemen and women will perform a ceremonial parade, along with almost 300 personnel lining the route representing the diverse roles played within the RAF through the generations. There will also be a spectacular flypast of up to 100 aircraft over Buckingham Palace at 1:00pm representing the RAF’s history, its continued operational role in securing the UK’s skies, and the future of air power.

Parade and Flypast

The parade will be commanded by Group Captain Anne-Marie Houghton, a Sentry navigator from Headquarters Air Command. Group Captain Houghton has the distinction of being the first female navigator in the Royal Air Force after she graduated from training in 1991.

As part of the event, fifty-five Squadron Standards will be paraded including that of 617 Squadron, famous for its role in the ‘Dambusters’ raids which was recently reformed in 2018 to fly the UK’s new F-35b Lightning II fighter jets. Her Majesty the Queen will also present a new Queen’s Colour to the Royal Air Force at a consecration ceremony. The original Colour was presented in 1951.

SOURCE RAF, Read more..