VETERANS stood shoulder to shoulder with young air cadets during a rousing celebration of a century of the Royal Air Force.

Standards were unfurled and the air trembled with the rumble of applause and thunder of drums as crowds in their hundreds lined the streets of Worcester to pay tribute to the sacrifices made by the RAF since its inception 100 years ago.

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Around 350 people including cadets, veterans and serving RAF personnel took part in the parade which began at the Cornmarket in Worcester today on its way to the service at Worcester Cathedral. The day was an opportunity for people to commemorate and celebrate those who have served in the RAF since it was formed on April 1, 1918, six months before the end of the First World War.

Organised by the Worcester and District Branch of the Royal Air Forces Association, the parade and service were two and a half years in the making said branch chairman John Mason, the man who made the occasion possible.

The 84-year-old veteran, who served during the Suez Crisis, decided to organise the event when he found out there was nothing planned for the city which he described as 'not good enough'.

He said: "It started as a pipe dream. Today is the culmination of an ambition."

Taking part in the parade were veterans Gordon Cupper, aged 71, of Whitbourne who served in the Royal Observer Corps, Graham Kiteley, 79, secretary of the Bromsgrove and Redditch branch of the RAF Associations and Allen Denney, 86, of Malvern who was a telephonist in the RAF and later joined the Royal Observer Corps.

Mr Cupper said: "It's a way of remembering those who are no longer here."

Mr Kiteley, who joined the RAF in 1960, said: "The RAF Association pays tribute to those who served and sacrificed their lives in the air force. It's also about recognising the importance of the RAF today."

Taking the salute outside the Guildhall was air marshal Julian Young accompanied by dignitaries including Worcester MP Robin Walker, vice lord-lieutenant, the honourable lady Morrison, and deputy mayor cllr Allah Ditta.

The service was introduced by the dean of Worcester, the very reverend Dr Peter Atkinson. A sermon followed from the deputy chaplain-in-chief (operations) of the RAF, the reverend Dr (group captain) Giles Legood who said it was important to celebrate not only the 'derring do' of the Battle of Britain and the Dambusters but the work of all those without whom the RAF could not fulfil its role, those who 'put themselves in harm's way in order to bring about peace and stability'.

He also stressed the RAF's role in more recent times in Kosovo, the Falklands, Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya as well as their important humanitarian work.