A NATIONAL torch relay travelled through West Devon last week to celebrate the RAF Air Cadets’ 75th anniversary.

The local relay was the final part of the torch’s six week tour through the country, with cadets, adult volunteers and veterans finding unique and adventurous ways to celebrate its journey.

Starting in John O’Groats and finishing in Cornwall, the torch has visited prominent addresses such as 10 Downing Street and Blackpool Tower, as well local landmarks and cadet activities such as gliding schools, shooting ranges and RAF bases and more.

The torch left Okehampton Camp last Saturday and travelled by mountain bike to nearby Meldon Viaduct where it abseiled down the viaduct with the six cadets who had won their places as part of a raffle.

By road it travelled on to Harrowbeer, a former RAF airfield, which opened in 1941, where cadets and staff from 2312 (Tavistock) Squadron took the salute by the old air traffic control building. The torch then continued on to the Plymouth Hoe and then on into Cornwall.

Officer Commanding of Plymouth and Cornwall Wing, Wing Commander Francis Reis said: ‘Although Predannack airfield is now under the Royal Navy, it first opened as a Royal Air Force base in 1941, the same year that the Air Training Corps was formed.

‘Today 626 Volunteer Gliding Squadron are based here, providing opportunities for Air Cadets to get their first taste of being in the air. It seems a rather fitting location for the anniversary torch to end its journey.’

The torch is from the symbol on the back of the Cadet Force Medal, it is also a symbol of enlightenment towards training; an important ethos of the RAF Air Cadets.