News
HRH attends a thanksgiving service to mark 50 years of the Army Air Corps at Salisbury Cathedral
16th November 2007
The Prince of Wales today attended a thanksgiving service to celebrate the Army Air Corps (AAC) Golden Jubilee at Salisbury Cathedral, Wiltshire.
His Royal Highness, who is Colonel-in-Chief, joined the regiment for a service and reception to celebrate their 50th Anniversary.
His Royal Highness has attended other events with the AAC this year. In July The Prince presented medals to Army Air Corps in June at Clarence House and in September The Prince helped celebrate the 50th anniversary of the AAC in Middle Wallop, Hampshire.
Chief of the General Staff General Sir Richard Dannatt also attended today's thanksgiving service in Salisbury.
Katherine Jenkins, Welsh soprano and forces sweetheart, sang a Latin chant before giving a solo rendition of the well-known hymn I Vow To Thee My Country.
The service involved a ceremony to dedicate the installation two stained glass windows in the cathedral, designed by artist Caroline Swash this year and commissioned by the Army Air Corps (AAC) to celebrate its 50th anniversary.
The Reverend David Wilkes, the Army's chaplain-general, said in his sermon that the men and women of the AAC were "an inspiration."
Captain Stuart Hughes, spokesman for the AAC, said: "We have been celebrating our Golden Jubilee all year.
“Today is a thanksgiving service and the dedication of a pair of stained glass windows showing a pictorial history of the AAC over the last 50 years."
Representatives from all seven regiments and independent squadrons of the corps were represented at today's service.
The Prince of Wales is Colonel-in-Chief of the AAC, which was formed on 1st September 1957. Its personnel have served in every major conflict since then.
Originally its role was to move small numbers of soldiers around the battlefield and conduct aerial reconnaissance.
Over the years, and now with the addition of Apache attack helicopters, the AAC has become one of the Army's most potent components in any war-fighting operation.