A "stellar and selfless" RAF officer has received a 'Great Escape' send-off to mark nearly four decades of service.

Station Warrant Officer Mac Macdonald lowered the Royal Air Force Ensign at RAF Honington for the last time as he retired on Tuesday/

East Anglian Daily Times: Warrant officer Mac MacDonald worked as a chef for several years after an injury before returning to be a gunnerWarrant officer Mac MacDonald worked as a chef for several years after an injury before returning to be a gunner (Image: © UK MOD Crown Copyright 2022)

The SWO is the station commander’s righthand man, a role Mac has fulfilled for the last three years of his 39 year career.

Station commander group captain Dutch Holland said: “Today we say farewell to a giant of the RAF and RAF Regiment; WO Mac MacDonald leaves us after 39 years of stellar and selfless service and has been each and every day the epitome of the career professional and the bastion of standards and professionalism.

"He will be missed by everyone and we wish him well for the next chapter of his life."

The Honington Voluntary Band played ‘The Great Escape’ and station personnel lined the streets to wave Mac off as he was driven to the main gate in a Foxhound.

East Anglian Daily Times: At Honington Mac is known for his roles on 2623 Sqn RAuxAF Regt, 1 Sqn RAF Regt, Recruit Training Squadron (Basics) and the Armoured Vehicle (Wheeled) Training Team.At Honington Mac is known for his roles on 2623 Sqn RAuxAF Regt, 1 Sqn RAF Regt, Recruit Training Squadron (Basics) and the Armoured Vehicle (Wheeled) Training Team. (Image: © UK MOD Crown Copyright 2022)

SWO MacDonald said: “Believe it or not 39 years goes by in a flash. There are highs and lows to any job but I have loved it, every minute and would do it all again in a heartbeat.

“The camaraderie and esprit de corps is something we are very privileged to have in the RAF Regiment and I hope to continue that theme with the veteran community and the wider regiment family in the future.”

Having joined the RAF in 1983 as an RAF regiment gunner he was re-mustered after four years due to an eye injury.

He retrained as a chef and spent six years in the trade before finding that his eyesight had improved enough to allow him a re-trade back to gunner.

This meant completing another basic gunner course at RAF Catterick.

East Anglian Daily Times: Personnel lined the road as Mac MacDonald left RAF HoningtonPersonnel lined the road as Mac MacDonald left RAF Honington (Image: © UK MOD Crown Copyright 2022)

Life as a chef came with the opportunity to meet an RAF stewardess whom he married in the Falkland Islands in 1989; the first forces couple to do so.

His diverse career includes ceremonial duties on The Queens Colour Squadron; a tour in Northern Ireland, stabilisation work in Nad-e-Ali province with the Gurkhas, liaison officer at the Queen Elizabeth hospital and a myriad of training roles.

SWO MacDonald said: “Achieving a final tour as the Station Warrant Officer at RAF Honington has been the icing on the cake and I wish everyone the very best in the station’s 85th and of course the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee year.”