RAF St Athan set to be given freedom of borough honour

MEMBERS of a Royal Air Force unit in the Vale of Glamorgan are set to be granted the Freedom of the County Borough of Rhondda Cynon Taff.

The move to bestow the honour upon the group, based outside of RCT, comes after last year’s accolade was given to Llantwit Fardre-born swimmer David Roberts and the Rhondda-based Cory Band.

The recipient in 2016 was Trehafod resident Mathew James, who was shot on a Tunisian beach during a 2015 terror attack after throwing him- self in front of his partner to shield her.

On Thursday, a meeting of the council’s Freedom of the Borough Working Group will meet, with the report to be discussed by members proposing to give the honour to St Athan. The decision is then expected to be confirmed at a future meeting of the full council.

A council spokesman said a nomination was received to recognise the 100th anniversary of the formation of the RAF, as well as the 80th anniversary of the St Athan base.

He added: “The Freedom of the Borough has previously been awarded to Armed Forces, including The Royal Welsh Regiment and The Welsh Guards.

“If supported by council later this month, this would be the first occasion the Royal Air Force has been recognised.”

In the report to be considered by councillors, a short history of the RAF base in St Athan was given, including that it was formed as the new school of technical training back in 1938. To this day, it provides training for service personnel for all three services of the MoD.

The report explained: “It is committed to training students to become highly skilled professionals in their chosen trade and developing them as individuals, in order to make them effective and self reliant members of today’s Air Force.”

It concluded: “Rhondda Cynon Taf has a proud record of recognising and honouring those who have given extraordinary service to the county borough and has a well established tradition of conferring the Freedom of the Borough on worthy candidates.”