I REALLY enjoyed your article on the 50th Anniversary of the Red Arrows (Standard, June 26). Surely Gloucestershire is the spiritual home of the Red Arrows having been born at Fairford and spending their formative years at Kemble and it is nice to see the local paper recording this anniversary.

However I must point out one small error. The black and white picture with a heading “last flight from Kemble 1983” is not correct. The aircraft shown is a Gnat (by 1983 the Hawk had been in service for three years) and the team leader is Frank Hoare.

I have checked my log book which shows that the team performed their last practice at Kemble on March 8, 1983 and finally left en route to Cyprus for winter training on March 10, 1983. Of course the airfield stayed open long after the Red Arrows moved their home to RAF Scampton and the team returned occasionally to mount displays but their last departure from Kemble as their operating base was as described above.

JOHN BLACKWELL

The leader who led that sad departure flight from Kemble