16 Air Assault Brigade Welcome Back The Pegasus To Colchester

 A new statue of Pegasus, the emblem of the Airborne forces, has been unveiled at Merville Barracks in Colchester today.

It's a big day for 16 Air Assault Brigade, who won a battle to get the winged horseback as their emblem in 2015.

Pegasus the winged horse and Bellerophon the winged warrior on his back come from Greek mythology.

It was adopted by the airborne forces during the Second World War because it epitomised all they set out to do, armed men delivered into battle by air.

The parade inside Merville Barracks brought together battalions of the Parachute Regiment alongside those who provide medical, artillery, signals and engineering support. 1000 soldiers to celebrate the brigade's history.

For their antecedent soldiers were crucial in the D-Day Normandy landings in the Second World War,  capturing two bridges across the River Orne and the Caen Canal.

Giving a safe exit for troops landing on Sword Beach. One was later named Pegasus Bridge in honour of the airborne troops.

Getting Pegasus back links today's soldiers with those men of 1944.

This event was also a chance to look to the brigade's future. Recognised were the Regiment's first ever Parachute Jump Instructors who qualified last week.

They can now teach their own troops to jump, as well as the Royal Air Force.

16 Air Assault are brigade whose gallantry and history runs deep, and the return of Pegasus is a symbol to inspire a future generation.