His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh visited the refurbished MOD Lyneham today to officially name the new Prince Philip Barracks in his honour.
The Duke of Edinburgh is Colonel-in-Chief of the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME), whose regimental headquarters are now located at The Prince Philip Barracks.
The visit began with a Guard of Honour outside the Brunel Building, where the Duke of Edinburgh was met by the Master General REME, Lieutenant General Andrew Figgures CB CBE and Chief of Defence People, Lieutenant General Andrew Gregory CB. His Royal Highness then went inside the building to tour some of the facilities. The Duke of Edinburgh spoke to soldiers and officers from the newly formed 8 Training Battalion REME, the REME Arms School and the School of Army Aeronautical Engineering.
The hosting party went on to visit one of several technical training facilities on the former RAF site, which now house a range of Army training equipment including tanks, armoured vehicles, weapons and sophisticated technical training aids. The Duke of Edinburgh and the Lord Lieutenant spoke to some of the soldiers and instructors about the training at the school.
Then, hosted by the Master General of REME and the Regimental Headquarters and watched by some of the 1,800 military personnel working and training at MOD Lyneham, The Duke of Edinburgh unveiled a plaque to commemorate the official opening of The Prince Philip Barracks. The visit closed with His Royal Highness meeting the families of those based at the barracks and having lunch in the Princess Marina Officers’ Mess.
Colonel Mike Pendlington, Commandant of the Defence School of Electronic and Mechanical Engineering, part of the Defence College of Technical Training, said:
It is a privilege to continue to celebrate REME’s relationship with His Royal Highness by naming The Prince Philip Barracks in his honour. The day has been a great success and an opportunity to demonstrate how training continues to improve and evolve to the benefit of the British Armed Forces.
His Royal Highness has been Colonel-in-Chief of the Corps of the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers since 1969.
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