Rotarians take to the skies for history lesson

Oct 30 2008 by Margaret Shaw, Hamilton Advertiser

HAMILTON Rotary Club welcomed Flight Lieutenant Mike Denison as guest speaker at their latest meeting. He gave an excellent talk on RAF Leuchars.

When explaining the Leuchars crest, Mike delved into the history of the base which started off in 1911 as a base for the Royal Engineers. In 1917, towards the end of the World War I, the base became a centre for training naval pilots.

It wasn’t until 1935 that the RAF took over Leuchars as a training school. At the start of the World War II, it became part of Coastal Command.

The first jets at the base arrived in 1950 when Fighter Command took over.

Mike explained that the base has 1700 servicemen and 300 civilians.

Rotarian bAlex Torrance provided a well-deserved vote of thanks.