RAF St Mawgan held a special ceremony to mark Remembrance Day on Monday.

Service and civilian personnel came together to attend a service and lay wreaths at the station’s memorial, which was enhanced for the occasion by station personnel and local children.

Weeks of hard work by the station’s General Engineering Flight (GEF), the People & Families Support and Communications & Engagement teams have seen the area transformed.

Metal silhouettes of Armed Forces personnel reflecting the tri-service nature of RAF St Mawgan now dominate the skyline. Bespoke wooden planters provide a home for stunning scallop shell poppies, made by local school children; youth groups; air cadets; and station personnel.

More than 20 invited veterans were in attendance at the special Remembrance ceremony as well as representatives from schools and youth groups who have been involved with the poppy project.

The service culminated in wreaths being laid by senior representatives of all three Services; Royal British Legion in St Columb; RAF Association St Mawgan; and The Veterans’ Charity.

Tributes were laid by and on behalf of the family of Flight Lieutenant Gareth Nicholas to whom the station memorial stone is dedicated. Shell poppies were also planted by the children.

The whole force personnel at RAF St Mawgan worked hard to make the station’s memorial stand out from the rest In preparation for Armistice Day 2024.

RAF St Mawgan was chosen as the launch location for 2024’s Ribbon of Poppies initiative in March, which aims to create a living memorial to those who have lost their lives as a result of war.

Veterans and service children joined station personnel at the launch to sow poppy seeds around the station memorial stone. The event also sowed a seed for the Station Commander, Wing Commander Helen Simpson, after she came up with an idea of creating the more permanent area of reflection to enhance the existing monument to showcase the skills of her people and build on the existing connections with local schools and service charities.

Wing Commander Simpson said: “It is fitting as we commemorate and reflect on the sacrifice of so many service personnel, that we can also celebrate the pride and passion of our people and our local community.

“The beautiful additions that have been created around our memorial give us a wonderful opportunity to not only provide an important Area of Reflection for all of those stationed here at RAF St Mawgan, but also to continue to engage with our local schools and youth groups where we can help bring to life the core values around Remembrance for a new generation.”

Iain Henderson of The Veterans’ Charity, added: “It has been a joy working with the team at RAF St Mawgan. Seeing how our ‘Ribbon of Poppies’ initiative has been so enthusiastically embraced and developed is really special.

“We adapted an idea on making shell wreaths from the team at ‘Battling On CIC’ and the links to Cornwall are clear to see, with the shells from the seas surrounding the County where much of the preparation for the D-Day landings took place.

“We had been touring a shell wreath around UK sites connected to D-Day earlier this year, and when we brought it here to RAF St Mawgan in May the Station Commander was intrigued by the links with the Station’s Coastal Command heritage.

“Thanks to local fishmongers in the Newlyn area, we were able to provide the team with plenty of shells, and the Eden Project provided Cornish cane bamboo for the stems.

“I think the poppies they have created look absolutely brilliant and are an incredibly fitting addition to the memorial.”