PICTURE SPECIAL: RAF Halton welcomes royal visitor

The Duchess was accompanied by Group Captain Adrian Burns, the Station Commander, on a tour of the base.

She visited the station’s Trinity Community Centre where she met the welfare staff and joined the children enjoying the many activities on offer in the centre.

The Duchess also met a cross-section of RAF personnel at a reception in Halton House at the Officers’ Mess.

The visit concluded with a fly-past by an aircraft from 230 Squadron at RAF Benson.

It is not the first time the Duchess has visited the RAF base.

She visited in January 2009 in her role as Honorary Air Commodore.

RAF Halton was established during the early days of the RAF in 1918.

Prior to this, the land was used by the Army for flying and training troops with permission of Alfred de Rothschild until the War Office bought the estate in 1919.

Today RAF Halton is the home of a variety of service personnel which it trains in support of the UK’s Defence Strategy at home and 
abroad.

This includes basic RAF recruit training, management and leadership and a wide variety of other specialist training roles.