RAF Honington and West Suffolk Queen's Platinum Jubilee Sunset Ceremony

08 Jun 2022

Royal Air Force Honington will parade its Freedom of West Suffolk through the town of Bury St Edmunds before returning to Angel Hill for a Sunset Ceremony alongside the Army, Navy and Cadets in celebration of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee on Thursday 9 June.

Celebrating the 50th anniversary of the award by the Borough of Bury St Edmunds (now West Suffolk) to Royal Air Force Honington in 1972, this year also sees Royal Air Force Honington celebrate 85 years as a Royal Air Force Station.

The Freedom of the town is an ancient sign of trust given by the town to local military organisations allowing them to march through the town with drums beating, flags flying and bayonets fixed. The Royal Air Force Honington Freedom Parade will set off from the Abbey Gardens at 6.45pm heading up Abbeygate Street to the Corn Hill and returning to Angel Hill.

A Sunset Ceremony is a traditional parade to signal the end of the day and the mounting of an overnight guard. With music from the Royal Air Force Honington Voluntary Band, this event will start at 7.25pm. A civic reception will be hosted by West Suffolk Council in the Athenaeum for civic dignitaries, station executives and selected guests.

Royal Air Force Honington and 6 Army Air Corps will have displays for the public to view on Angel Hill and the Glenmoriston Pipe Band will also play between the parade and the ceremony.

The units represented at the Sunset Ceremony will be:

• Royal Air Force Honington, the home of Royal Air Force Force Protection at home and abroad; granted the Freedom of the Borough of Bury St Edmunds (now West Suffolk) in April 1972
• HMS Vengeance, a ballistic missile submarine granted the Freedom of the Borough of Bury St Edmunds (now West Suffolk)
• Wattisham-based 3 Regiment Army Air Corps granted the Freedom of the Borough of Bury St Edmunds (now West Suffolk)
• Combined flight of Air, Sea and Army Cadets

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