ODIHAM High Street was a washed with colour as hundreds of residents celebrated 100 years of the Royal Air Force.

The celebrations, which took place on Saturday, 9 June, got underway with a RAF themed box car race, where residents eagerly lined up to see 11 carts and crews compete, with entries from both RAF Odiham and the wider community.

Captain Lee Turner, RAF Odiham’s Station Commander had the difficult task of awarding the ‘best cart design’ particularly hard.

The prize went to a civilian team from Dunleys Hill called ‘The Dunleys Hill Billies’, who’s Sopwith Camel was a work of art.

The ‘best crew’ prize was awarded to a team from Robert May’s school - somewhat stretching the RAF theme with a Star Wars entry - but firmly maintaining that ‘space’ was the future for the Air Force.

Judges comprising of chair of Odiham Parish Council Cllr Jon Hale Group Captain Lee Turner and Leanne Legge from Boeing.

However, it was team from RAF Odiham, ‘A Bunch of Tools’, who secured the top award for the ‘Fastest Cart’. This crew was formed of members of the RAF Odiham Chinook support centre who based their cart on a trusty RAF tool box, with an integrated water cannon.

Following the cart racing, the afternoon progressed to a High Street Party with more 1200 residents, half of whom were from RAF Odiham, being seated along the High Street.

This included a helicopter fly past, followed by a Battle of Britain Fly past.

Cllr Hale said: “‘Odiham is proud to be home to our nations Chinook Force and our community celebration to mark RAF100 was a spectacular success, raising thousand of pounds for RAF charities and giving those who attended an amazing day to show their support for the Royal Air Force.

“The success of the day was also underpinned by the immense efforts of the Air Cadets, Tom Janaway and his team from Ford Farm (who supplied over 250 hay bales), the box cart race Marshall’s - and of course the wider support from RAF Odiham.”