We are hosting a coffee morning in the church 1000-1200 on Wednesday 23 April 2025. 

Please come along to support us, use it as an opportunity to catch up with friends and perhaps even make some new ones!

Relax and enjoy some refreshments in the beautiful and historic setting of the church.

​Adults and children of all ages welcome!
 
Any donations received will go to the HMS HERON Central Amenities Fund who provide financial help for
individual or group projects for air station personnel to improve their morale and well being. 

The family of the late Captain Anthony Wigley Royal Navy visited the air station and Fleet Air Arm Memorial Church on Tuesday 21 January 2025. Captain Wigley (44), Commanding Officer of HMS OSPREY, lost his life in December 1984 when the 771 Squadron Portland  based Wessex HU 5 he was piloting crashed shortly after take off.
Family members, many of them for the first time, were able to view Captain Wigley’s entry in the Fleet Air Arm Roll of Honour at the church and also had the opportunity for a period of personal reflection.
Captain Wigley is laid to rest in Leigh Parish Church, Sherborne, Dorset.                         
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A poignant commemoration took place yesterday morning to pay tribute to all those who have died in the pursuit of freedom and peace. As the spiritual home of the Fleet Air Arm we were particularly honoured by the presence of many bereaved family members who came to remember their loved ones who had died in service, some of whom were laid to rest with us.  
Whilst the majority of the service took place inside the church, the Act of Remembrance was conducted at the Wayfair Cross in the Royal Naval Cemetery. 
The names on the Naval Service Roll of Honour for the past 12 months was read out before Last Post and the two minute silence.  After reveille was sounded Captain Duncan Thomas Royal Navy, Commanding Officer of Royal Naval Air Station, was the first to lay a wreath on behalf of the Ship's Company. 
Once back in the church prayers were said for the fallen, the nation and peace, these were followed by the singing of the Naval Hymn. Proceedings were completed with the playing of the National Anthem.

Thank you to Liz O'Brien who supplied the images. 

Ilchester Junior School pupils have had a busy week learning about the poppy and what it has come to symbolise for over a century.
Representatives from the school visited the Royal Naval Cemetery to place some of the beautiful poppies they had made. The children decided to position them around the  armillary base so that they can be seen during this year's Remembrance Sunday service and for the rest of November.  
Earlier in the day, they had also put poppies on 'Falklands Way' so that each Fleet Air Arm man who did not come home after the 1982 conflict had their own handmade flower. 
On Tuesday our Custodian had delivered a presentation focusing on just a few of the Royal Naval Air Service and Fleet Air Arm personnel killed in both World Wars, how they are commemorated and then talking about what remembrance meant to them personally. This prompted plenty of thoughtful and interesting questions from this large group of 90 young people.
Thank you Ilchester Junior School for your undivided attention and taking the time to remember those who died for our country so that we have the freedom to live as we do today. 
Well done!

In addition to contributing an average of £1,500 per annum to the Fleet Air Arm Memorial Church Trust, each year our Sunday congregation continue to help charities locally and further afield.
In the past 12 months, they have donated to the following organisations:
Royal British Legion (for remembrance)                                                      £160
Royal Navy & Royal Marines Charity                                                  £1,000
Royal National Lifeboat Institution (Bicentenary)                                       £750 
Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance                                                     £750
St Mary le Strand Restoration (Women’s Royal Naval Service church)               £500
Friends of St John, Somerset                                                                £500
Yeovil Christian Support Trust (Lord's Larder for Harvest Festival)                  £109

​The church welcomed four Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (Air) Branch veterans to a Service of Commemoration yesterday honouring them, and another 8,000 men, who enlisted just prior to WWII until the branch's disbandment at the beginning of 1957.
Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve aviators made a huge contribution to the Fleet Air Arm, serving with distinction in every theatre of operations; the Battle of Britain, the hunt for and sinking of the Bismark, the attacks on the Tirpitz, battles of the Atlantic and Taranto, in the Pacific and, in the 1950s, Korea.
Amongst the 1,544 officers who made the ultimate sacrifice was Temporary Sub Lieutenant (A) James Donald Sutherland RNVR who was killed on 31 July 1945 (the day after his 20th birthday) when his Barracuda, operating from HMS CONDOR, went down in the North Sea 27 miles northeast of Arbroath during a night navigational exercise. He is commemorated on the Lee-On-Solent Memorial, Hampshire - Bay 6, Panel 6. His trainee Observer, Acting Leading Airman Edward Charles Burton (21), also lost his life and was not recovered.
Some of the many guests attending the Service, and the dedication of a small memorial plaque arranged by Navy Wings, were Admiral of the Fleet Sir Benjamin Bathhurst GCB DL, Admiral Sir George Zambellas GCB DSC ADC DL, Vice Admiral Michael Gretton CB CVO and Rear Admiral Anthony Rimington, head of the Fleet Air Arm.
Ninety one year old Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (Air) Branch veteran Peter Rainbird CBE DL paid homage to his former colleagues as part of his tribute during the Service, especially those who preceded him seeing action during the war years.
Following the Service Navy Wings hosted a reception lunch in their Royal Naval Air Station Yeovilton hangar, where the unveiling of their recently restored Chipmunk 'G-RNVR' and a special heritage flight of Swordfish Mk I, Serial Number W5856, took place. WS5856 is the oldest surviving airworthy aircraft of its type in the world.
An Order of Service and the corresponding Navy Wings article can be accessed by clicking on the buttons below the image slideshow.

Due to staff absence, there will be no services taking place at the church for three weeks from Thursday 1 August 2024 until Sunday 25 August 2024.
The church will also not be open to visitors during this period unless by prior appointment.
The Churchyard and Royal Naval Cemetery will remain open as usual.

Thank you for your understanding and apologies for any inconvenience caused.

​As the D-Day 80 commemorations draw to a close, we were privileged to pay our own tribute to the fallen and the surviving veterans.

​​Thank you to everyone that came along to support the three events and our partners for the day at the Fleet Air Arm Museum, Navy Wings and the HMS HERON Volunteer Band without whose help none of it would have been possible.
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You can find a copy of the Order of Service and a leaflet on how the Fleet Air Arm was involved in the Liberation of France by clicking on the buttons below.

The Fleet Air Arm Museum and Fleet Air Arm Memorial Church are working together to mark the 80th anniversary of the Allied invasion of Normandy.
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A military Service of Commemoration will be held at 10:30am on Thursday 6 June 2024 on the Carrier Flight Deck (Hall 3) of the Fleet Air Arm Museum. The service will be open to members of the public with a valid museum ticket. The following link can be used for booking and shows discounted prices available for certain groups:
Buy tickets for Fleet Air Arm Museum | National Museum of the Royal Navy (nmrn.org.uk). Entry to the Fleet Air Arm Museum for Armed Forces personnel holding MOD90 ID is free as normal.  

Later in the day the Fleet Air Arm Memorial Church will join in with two national events; at 6:30pm the bells will be rung, hopefully with a special appearance from the Navy Wings Swordfish sporting her D-Day stripes - weather permitting. Later in the evening  at 9.15pm  the church will host a Lamplight of Peace ceremony to coincide with the country’s Beacon Lighting. Both events are free to attend but we would appreciate pre booking to regulate numbers. Please contact us via Facebook or our website ‘Contact Us’ tab.