Wing Commander Symes, Members of No. 10 Squadron.
I am very honoured that you have asked me to be your Reviewing Officer today.
Over nearly ten years as Prime Minister I have come to know many of the Squadron's members and their aircraft. We have flown together to the most [end p1] far-flung lands and continents. You have brought me safely to my destinations through ice and fog and sand-storms, with unfailing punctuality.
Indeed I am living proof of your Squadron motto: “Rem acu tangere” which might be loosely translated as “we land even when the Prime Minister [end p2] can't see the runway” .
These flights have been only a very small part of your duties. But they have made their contribution to Britain's standing and reputation in the world. Whenever the VC10 arrives in some far-off capital with the RAF Ensign fluttering proudly in the breeze, it makes us all [end p3] just that little bit prouder of being British.
So may I take the opportunity to thank all the members of No. 10 Squadron who have performed this service over the years, and all others here at Brize Norton who have played their part. [end p4]
Your Squadron's history goes back over seventy years, to the very earliest days of flying.
You fought in the skies over the great battlefields of the First World War.
In World War Two, you played your part in the sinking of the great German battleship Tirpitz, and the attacks on Peenemunde [end p5] which were crucial in delaying the development of the V-weapon.
During the height of the Cold War, you helped carry out the Berlin Airlift, which kept West Berlin a free city and showed Stalin that the Allied Powers could not be cowed.
And since 1964 you have been based here at Brize Norton, flying the VC10s in support [end p6] of military exercises across the world—and when practice gave way to the real thing, you had a crucial part in sustaining our forces during the Falklands Campaign.
It is a proud record, a record of courage, a record of the highest standards of service and performance. And those of you who make up No. 10 [end p7] Squadron today are worthy heirs to that great tradition.
Wing Commander Symes, it is because of the Squadron's distinguished history and because of my own close association with it that I am particularly honoured to be asked to present you with your new Squadron Standard. [end p8]
Standards such as these have played a vital part in our great military tradition.
In earlier times, they were taken to the field of battle as a symbol of leadership. There they became a focus for the loyalty of the fighting man, an inspiration to fight and do one's best, a rallying point in moments of crisis and of danger. [end p9]
It was the standard which bonded the individual first to his unit and through that to his Sovereign and his nation—a bond expressed by the American poet {Oliver Wendell Holmes} in the line: “One flag, one land, one heart, one hand, One nation evermore” .
In modern warfare, standards no longer take the field as they once did. [end p10]
But they are every bit as important as a call to uphold the traditions and achievements which they represent.
For you in No. 10 Squadron that means above all maintaining the highest professional standards of which the Royal Air Force—indeed everyone in the United Kingdom—is rightly and justly proud. [end p11]
It is because we are able to put superbly professional forces into the field that Britain's reputation stands high within the NATO Alliance and in the wider world. That is why our help and assistance is constantly being sought by other countries—over thirty of them—to provide equipment and training. [end p12]
And it is because we have kept Britain's defences strong and give a lead to others in the West to do so too, that we now have the prospect of a more stable world.
Great changes are taking place in the Soviet Union—indeed even as I speak their future may hang in the balance. For over forty years we have stood firm against attempts to extend Communism [end p13] throughout the world. Now it is freedom which is on the offensive, a peaceful offensive, the world over.
In this new phase, it will be as vital as ever to keep our forces strong, with the most modern weapons and the most highly trained and professional officers and men. Because it is that which leaves a [end p14] potential aggressor in no doubt of our absolute determination to defend our way of life and our liberty from any threat.
The Royal Air Force with its new generation of aircraft and its superbly qualified pilots, navigators and support staff will be in the front line of that defence—and I know that No. 10 Squadron will be second to none in the part it plays. [end p15]
I am certain that those of you serving today will honour and protect your new Standard, and uphold the fine traditions of the Squadron.
May I thank you all—serving members of the Squadron, former members and families alike—and wish you every success in the future.