‘Sir Roderic’

A nice tribute.

The First Secretary of State unveiled a frontline Scots-based Typhoon fast jet renamed ‘Sir Roderic’ in honour of an RAF tradition born of one family’s tragedy in 1941 at RAF Lossiemouth today, Wednesday, 8 November 2017.

In 1941, Lady MacRobert lost two sons who flew with the RAF within six weeks of each other: Roderic (25) was killed when leading a Hurricane aircraft attack on German positons in Iraq; Ian (24) was declared missing in action after his Blenheim aircraft failed to return from a search and rescue mission flown from Shetland – his body was never found. Their older brother Alasdair had also been killed in a civil aviation accident in 1938.
The indomitable response of Lady MacRobert to these tragedies was to buy a £25,000 Stirling bomber aircraft for the RAF that same year, stipulating that it be called MacRobert’s Reply, and which flew 12 operational missions.

In 1942, Lady MacRobert donated a further £20,000 to purchase four Hurricane fighters, which were sent to RAF operations in the Middle East, with three named after her sons and the fourth after her.

A succession of RAF aircraft has carried the MacRobert’s name ever since. The MacRobert Trust has donated millions of pounds to charitable organisations, created a variety of prizes, awards, traineeships and endowments, and paid for building works across the country.

Damian Green MP said:
“In this season of remembrance, the MacRobert’s legacy epitomises the contribution made by Scotland and the Scots to the defence and national security of the United Kingdom, both historically and today.

“The new Sir Roderic belongs to 6 Squadron which maintains the Quick Reaction Alert (Interceptor) mission, alongside sister aircraft from RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire. Together they protect UK airspace from rogue aircraft and other threats by providing crews and aircraft at high states of readiness 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.”