AIRMEN and women paid tribute to their past comrades at the unveiling of a memorial on the grounds of a pivotal Second World War RAF training centre.

Veterans, serving military personnel and residents bowed their heads at The Lodge in Shinfield Park yesterday where Wokingham Borough Council dignitaries unveiled a commemorative stone remembering the brave crews who laid their lives down for Britain.

The listed building was part of the former Royal Air Force (RAF) Flying Training Command headquarters where pilots learned their trade from 1940-1968. It was one of a network of airfields across the country where pilots were trainined during World War Two, including bases at Woodley, Theale, Henley, White Waltham and Smiths Lawn.

The Lodge has been restored and is now a private house and the remainder of the site has been developed into 300 homes while the council is set to adopt the open space at Shinfield Park.

Borough council Mayor Cllr Bob Wyatt led the proceedings by unveiling the memorial before he unveiled a plaque on one of the borough's 60 commemorative Diamond Jubilee oak trees planted behind the building.

Former RAF officer Cllr Angus Ross, now the borough's executive member for environment, also attended the ceremony, plus children from Shinfield St Mary's Junior School.