51 Squadron of the RAF laid up its retiring Squadron Standard in Lincoln Cathedral.
On Tuesday 1st April 2025, the 30th anniversary of 51 Squadron moving to Royal Air Force Waddington from Royal Air Force Wyton, Number 51 Squadron Royal Air Force laid up its retiring Squadron Standard in the Air Force Chapel, Lincoln Cathedral. The Royal Air Force Squadron Standard follows on wider military tradition where the unit flag was a rallying point for military troops to ensure that they were formed in the right area and could be issued with orders. Today, especially for the Royal Air Force, the Standard is a more symbolic rallying point and is paraded for ceremonial occasions such as Remembrance Sunday.
51 Squadron is the United Kingdom Rivet Joint Squadron and operates the RC-135 Rivet Joint aircraft, a signals intelligence platform. 51 Squadron was presented with its new Squadron Standard on Tuesday 11th March by His Royal Highness, Prince Edward, the Duke of Edinburgh at a ceremony at RAF Waddington, Lincoln. The ceremony, with over seventy Squadron personnel from 51 Squadron on parade, and 160 guests in attendance, was commanded by Officer Commanding 51 Squadron, Wing Commander Keith Bissett.
The 25 years of service covered by the retiring Standard recognises 51 Squadron’s incredible service, from the first few years after the Squadron arrived at Royal Air Force Waddington with the Nimrod R1 in April 1995, through an incredibly busy period covering operations in the Balkans, Iraq, and Afghanistan, as well as other areas. It was also the symbol of the Squadron during the stand down of the Nimrod R1, the co-crewing era with Offutt Air Force Base’s 55th Wing, and for the delivery of the first Rivet Joint aircraft to the United Kingdom in 2013. From the arrival of the Rivet Joint 51 Squadron has grown from strength to strength and completed 10 years on operational service from RAF Waddington and deployed as required.
The dedication service was conducted by the Dean of Lincoln, The Very Reverend Dr Simon Jones, with support from The Reverend Squadron Leader Christopher Hodder, a padre from RAF Waddington. The short service, in the Air Force Chapel, was very apt as the emblem of 51 Squadron’s home base, RAF Waddington, is a tower from Lincoln Cathedral surrounded by fog, as in World War II the Cathedral’s towers were an excellent way to locate Waddington in amongst the many Bomber Command airfields in Lincoln. Waddington’s motto ‘for faith and freedom’ also points to service and operations.
Of the event The Very Reverend Dr Simon Jones, Dean of Lincoln, said: “Lincoln Cathedral has a long and proud association with the Royal Air Force. That relationship is strengthened by the laying up of the 51 Squadron Standard. By placing this standard in the Air Force Chapel, we honour the commitment and sacrifice of former members of the Squadron, and pray for the Squadron’s ongoing work in the service of the peace and security of our nation and the wider world”.
Wing Commander Keith Bissett, Officer Commanding 51 Squadron, said “Squadron Standards are presented every 25 years, so to receive a new Standard and to be able to lay one up is an honour. The 51 Squadron Standard, like the previously retired Standard laid up in Selby Abbey, near the Squadron’s World War II home, is a symbol of the service and operational commitment of our very operational Squadron. I can think of no better place to lay up the Standard than Lincoln Cathedral, where the Standard will hang until it turns to dust.”
