VIDEO A SPECIAL ceremony was held today to mark the day when Wattisham airfield became the official home of Britain's Apache attack helicopters.The army has relocated its fleet of Apaches to the airfield in a shift which has seen its Lynx helicopters moved to North Yorkshire.

A SPECIAL ceremony was held today to mark the day when Wattisham airfield became the official home of Britain's Apache attack helicopters.

The army has relocated its fleet of Apaches to the airfield in a shift which has seen its Lynx helicopters moved to North Yorkshire.

Previously, the army's Apaches had been located across three sites - at Middle Wallop, Hampshire, at Dishforth, North Yorkshire, and at Wattisham.

Today a flag-raising ceremony took place as 664 Squadron formally transferred from 9 Regiment Army Air Corps, based at Dishforth, to 4 Regiment Army Air Corps (AAC) at Wattisham.

The 664 flag was raised at Wattisham before two Apaches took off and performed a fly by three times before landing again.

Lieutenant Colonel Neil Dalton, commanding officer 4 Regiment AAC, said: “It's an extremely significant event.

“From 4 Regiment's perspective it's great to see the red and green back together of 654 and 664 for the first time since 1983.”

He said the decision to locate all Apaches at Wattisham represented a huge commitment to the base.

He said: “We do not have that many in the British Army but the few resources we do have we feel we must use as effectively as possible. By concentrating them all in one location we are able to do that.”

The decision to move all Apache's to Wattisham follows the establishment of a new centre to service the attack helicopters at Wattisham last year.