OXFORDSHIRE’S long connection with the Royal Air Force is being celebrated 100 years after it was first formed.

RAF Benson personnel stationed in Afghanistan joined well-wishers, tweeting: “A very special happy 100th birthday to the Royal Air Force.”

The base has spent the last 100 days featuring 100 faces from the RAF’s history on its social media channels.

It concluded the project with current station Commander, Gp Capt Hamish Cormack holding a cake with ‘100’ in candles on top.

He said: “This has been my guaranteed source of daily morale for 100 days and I will miss it.”

The RAF was formed on April, 1, 1918 during the last days of the First World War in recognition of the changing role of air power in modern warfare.

RAF Benson, home to two Puma helicopter squadrons, opened in 1939 two years after RAF Brize Norton, the force’s largest station, opened in 1937.

As part of commemorations a baton relay was launched in London and will visit 100 sites around the country over the next 100 days.

Carried by personnel, cadets and veterans, stops are planned in Oxfordshire between April 3-9 and April 16-19.

For more details on the relay and other centenary events visit raf.mod.uk/raf100/