Statue unveiled to celebrate bond between airborne forces and Colchester
A new statue has been unveiled to celebrate 25 years of 16 Air Assault Brigade in Colchester, Essex.
The monument, which will stand on the triangle of grass at the junction of Circular Road North and Flagstaff Road, marks the close relationship between the city and the military.
Troops paraded alongside civic and military dignitaries, veterans, Pegasus, The Parachute Regiment's mascot, and the public, led by the British Army Band Tidworth, during the ceremony to showcase the statue.
Brigade 'inextricably connected' to city
The figure is a life-sized bronze of a soldier in full parachute kit, ready to jump into action.
It will stand on a two-metre limestone plinth to match the neighbouring buildings, which are former Victorian barracks converted into housing.
Lieutenant General Sir Barney White-Spunner and Brigadier Ed Cartwright, respectively the commander of 16 Air Assault Brigade when it arrived in Colchester, and the current commander, unveiled the statue. The mayor of Colchester, Councillor Andrew Ellis, formally received the statue on behalf of the city.
"16 Brigade has become inextricably connected to this city, to Colchester, and through our families, through the people we work with, through our homes we buy. We're part of this community, we're part of this city," Brig Cartwright told BFBS Forces News.
Asked about what was going through his mind during the celebrations, he said: "I think the statue points forwards and backwards. I think it points back to 25 years of involvement of the brigade here in Colchester.
"It points forward to a bright future in which we will remain part of this community, and that bond gets ever stronger."
A place to call home
After the statue was uncovered, the celebrations continued with the Airborne Heritage Fete taking over the Colchester Garrison cricket pitch.
The soldiers displayed their equipment and the Red Devils parachute display team jumped onto the pitch.
"At a moment's notice, they can be out anywhere in the world, looking after our interests, our allies' interests, and world interests for peace, and trying to keep the world progressing forward," Colchester's town crier, Rennie Chivers, said.
"They need a place to be able to come back to, some[where] they can regard as home, some[where] where they are welcomed."
The brigade has been based in Colchester since 2001 and was granted the Freedom of Colchester in 2008, which was exercised in 2009 and 2011 after it returned from operations in Afghanistan and in 2023.
16 Air Assault Brigade is the British Army's global response force, specially trained and equipped to deploy by parachute, helicopter and airlanding.
Its core role is to maintain and command the Air Manoeuvre Task Force, made up of infantry and aviation battlegroups held at very high readiness to deploy anywhere in the world to carry out the full spectrum of missions, from non-combatant evacuation to warfighting.
Additional reporting by Tom Sables.
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