Having been an usher at the repatriation ceremony I have to say that I am both immensly proud of my colleagues who sadly went to heavens crew-room and their families who attended this harrowing ceremony with pride, grace and dignity. Thankfully the 'VIP's remained out of sight as much as possible and left friends and colleagues to run the day. It was humbling to chat with Ades and Gary A's families who both were dignified in their justifiable and rightful pride in their relatives. Mrs R-A-E and I both send our best wishes to all families.
I have recently discovered that I knew both the para and the marine also, it was good to see their families being cared for in the best traditions of all 3 services.
I hope today has given all 14 families some help and relief, I was proud to assist all the families in their mourning, it certainly helped me to cope. Thank heavens the big fella upstairs gave us some unseasonal sunshine for Kinloss and helped make the whole day more bearable.
To the boys who were bearers, you carried out your duties extremely well and deserved all the beer in the mess you could drink.
To all who helped, C17 crew, QCS, marines, thank you all on behalf of the nimrod crews and families.
R-A-E