They said farewell to the Canberra yesterday and to the squadron that has been operating the aircraft - known as the Queen of the Skies - since 1958.

They said farewell to the Canberra yesterday and to the squadron that has been operating the aircraft - known as the Queen of the Skies - since 1958.

It was the last parade for 39 (1PRU) Squadron at RAF Marham and to mark the event one of the ageing high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft was joined by the Red Arrows in an impressive formation flypast.

And in a moving moment at the end of the half-hour parade in front of reviewing officer Air Chief Marshal Sir Glenn Torpy, Chief of the Air Staff, a lone Canberra roared overhead for the last time.

Two of the four remaining aircraft are going to South Africa and the third is going to a private collection in Switzerland.

The fourth is to become one of the gate “guardians” at the air base alongside the existing GR1 Tornado and Victor bomber.

Most of the squadron's staff have been switched to other duties, many of them at Marham with its Tornado squadrons or on to engineering duties.

Others are retiring and among those is Sqn Ldr Terry Cairns, at 61 the oldest operational pilot in the RAF - and reputed to be the oldest in the world - who has served for 35 years on Canberras.

He said: “We've all got to come to the end of our working day and it seems right to me that I'm retiring along with the aircraft.”

The official end of the squadron will come when its standard is laid up in the RAF church of St Clement Danes in London's Strand tomorrow.

Air Chief Marshal Sir Glenn Torpy said: “It's an honour to be here today to say farewell to a squadron which has had a very long and distinguished career, first with the Royal Flying Corps then as part of the RAF.

“It's also very poignant to say farewell to the Canberra, our longest-serving aircraft in the Royal Air Force.”

He pointed out that one of the squadron's most famous members was Arthur Harris, who joined the RFC in 1916 and received the accolade of becoming known as Bomber Harris during the second world war.

He said it was in 1941 that the squadron - the initials PRU stand for Photographic Reconnaissance Unit - took on its photo recce role and he added: “It has excelled in that role since those very early days.”

The Air Chief Marshal said the Canberra, starting life as a strategic low-level bomber, had become a leading light in its tactical reconnaissance role.

“It is difficult to describe the full extent of the squadron's and the aircraft's achievements during its service with the Royal Air Force,” he said.

He pointed out that since 1992, the squadron had seen active service in the Balkans, Rwanda, the Horn of Africa, Iraq and latterly in Afghanistan.