Sure: Royal Navy Sea King Visit

5th May 2009

ROYAL NAVY SEA KING DUE IN GUERNSEY AFTER SERVING IN AFGHANISTAN

A ROYAL Navy Sea King helicopter will be taking a break from duties in Afghanistan this week to visit children in Guernsey.

The Sea King is attached to 846 Naval Air Squadron and has been based at Khandahar Airfield in Afghanistan providing essential support to the coalition forces. The trip is organised by Ian Wilkie, who served with the Royal Navy, and supported by his employer Sure.

The Sea King and its crew will arrive on Friday and have a busy itinerary before they leave on Monday which includes the crew attending the Liberation Ball, performing a flypast on Liberation Day and briefings with 20 Sea Cadets and also Chief Minister Lyndon Trott and a number of other dignataries.

The highlight of their visit is on Monday when the Sea King, which can carry up to 27 troops and supplies will land at Le Rondin School for an hour long visit with the children before flying on to Le Murier where it will become the first helicopter to land on the school playing fields.

‘We are extremely lucky that 846 Naval Air Squadron has been able to find the time to come to Guernsey to visit particularly as it coincides with Liberation Day which is such an important date in the island’s calendar,’ said Mr Wilkie, Sure’s head of sales.

‘Sure is particularly pleased to be able to support this visit as we know that the youngsters get so much joy from seeing the Sea King and its crew and they are fascinated by the technology and the fact that it has been serving in a real life war zone. We wish the whole squadron well as they continue with their essential mission.’

The squadron is based in Somerset and its personnel are known as ‘junglies’ which is a term of endearment earned during the Borneo Campaign in the 1960s when they delivered troops and equipment to the region.

Over the years 846 Squadron has been deployed all over the world including Bosnia, Sierra Leone and Iraq. Their recent duties in Afghanistan have been particularly challenging due to the high temperatures and sandy conditions and the pilots have seen frequent action with the enemy throughout Helmand Province.