Members of the Red Arrows have been accused of bullying, misogyny, assault, sexual harassment and drunkenness in the biggest scandal in the team’s 60-year history,
The Times can reveal.
More than 40 personnel, several of them young female recruits, have provided 250 hours of evidence to a long-running inquiry into the “toxic pocket” of the RAF.
Alleged victims are said to have been told for months that if they spoke up they would be sent home or kicked out of the air force as senior leaders “swept complaints under the carpet” for years to protect the reputations of people considered “untouchable”.
The investigation, instigated in December by Air Chief Marshal Sir Mike Wigston, was meant to have concluded in May but has been repeatedly delayed.No details are known on when its findings will now be released.
An inside source, who was one of 40 people who gave evidence and wanted to remain anonymous, has come forward to expose what she said was the culture at the elite aerobatic team in which female recruits were considered “fresh meat”. She said: “At the moment many females are at risk because there are numerous toxic pockets within the air force, but there is no urgency to act.”
Another source helping with the inquiry said that the allegations about the Red Arrows were only the “tip of the iceberg”.
The RAF is facing a crisis over its diversity targets, accused of looking for ways to prioritise women and ethnic minority recruits over white men. As part of the Red Arrows inquiry at least two Red Arrows personnel are under investigation and face “administrative action” after allegations of “inappropriate behaviours”, according to the inside source. This could result in them being thrown out of the air force.
A service police investigation found that none of the alleged behaviours met the threshold for criminal charges.
The team is already operating below strength. It usually consists of nine pilots, Red 1 to Red 9, their supervisor Red 10, a commanding officer and a ground crew. It now has a skeleton team of seven
after the departures of Flight Lieutenant Damon Green, known as Damo, who is in his late thirties and was Red 8, and Flight Lieutenant Will Cambridge, 39, who was Red 4. A defence source said that both men were on “other duties”.Allegations against one individual included behaviours going back to 2019, but the Special Investigation Branch found insufficient evidence for a criminal investigation. It is understood that by the time the SIB concluded its investigation some women had refused to give testimony because of the trauma of so many interviews.
After complaints were first raised about Cambridge he was allowed to continue to fly, the source alleged.
Squadron leader Nick Critchell, 36, resigned in protest against the “toxic culture” after confronting a colleague.
The inside source said that members of the 130-strong squadron would start “pestering” young recruits as soon as they joined, and “bombard” them with WhatsApp messages. “The girls who join the squadron are basically considered fresh meat,” the source said. “All of them are married and they just don’t leave them alone. It’s a toxic environment . . . It’s all men in senior positions. It is run by misogynistic white male blokes.”
The team was also accused of having tolerated a heavy drinking culture in the past, including drinking into the early hours — sometimes resulting in brawls — before pilots flew the same day. The source said this meant that alcohol would still have been in their systems when they were flying.
Other teams, including the Thunderbirds, of the US air force, and the Blue Angels, of the US navy, have remarked in the past on the Red Arrows members’ drinking.
A spokesman for the RAF said allegations that Red Arrows pilots had flown while intoxicated were unfounded.
Another person helping the inquiry said: “The Red Arrows and those around them were deemed untouchable and that has created a toxic culture, destroying unit cohesion . . . and ultimately highlighting poor leadership.”
The source accused the RAF and the Ministry of Defence of “delay and obfuscation”, adding that the issues with the squadron were “merely the tip of the iceberg”. They said the “sacred” chain of command “cannot be trusted to deal with toxic behaviours”, adding: “There is zero independent oversight.”
It is understood that the non-statutory inquiry has so far documented at least 13 alleged behaviours including misogyny, harassment, sexual harassment, assault, “misunderstanding of consent”, sexual assault, victimisation, bullying, intimidation, isolation and indecent exposure. Leaders accused of trying to keep allegations secret are still in post.
Diane Allen, who served for 30 years in the British Army and campaigns for better treatment for servicewomen, said that the RAF leadership had been urged for six months to “deal fairly and swiftly with these allegations”, adding: “They have not.”
Allen said the women who made the allegations had been put “on trial and forced to tell their story repeatedly” as those accused had been “supported, promoted”. She said: “The leadership is brushing it under the carpet.”
Some of the evidence was provided to an inquiry led by the Conservative MP Sarah Atherton into the treatment of women in the military. Four thousand female personnel and veterans gave evidence, revealing abuses of power.
The RAF spokesman said: “The RAF has a zero-tolerance approach to unacceptable behaviour and takes action wherever wrongdoing is proven.
“Following allegations of unacceptable behaviour within the Red Arrows, the RAF commissioned a thorough and far-reaching investigation. We will not be commenting further on the individual circumstances of specific personnel moves, which have been made without prejudice and are the result of both personal and professional reasons.”