Published: 20/01/2011
GOOD FEELING: Singer-songwriter Karla Bernardi, of Inverness, is happy to help out. David Whittaker-Smith
The song that will front the campaign to save RAF Lossiemouth was performed in Moray for the first time last night.
Inverness singer-songwriter Karla Bernardi’s track, Born to Fly, was crowned the official soundtrack for the battle to save the closure-threatened airbase.
The 25-year-old, of Culduthel Road, said it was a “good feeling” to be part of the fight to keep defence in Moray.
Until this year the area’s two RAF bases at Kinloss and Lossiemouth contributed more than £150million to the local economy annually.
RAF Lossiemouth now faces falling victim to Ministry of Defence budget-saving measures – after Kinloss, which has recently suffered that fate.
Ms Bernardi performed before an audience at the Moray Playhouse after a special screening of the 1955 British war film, The Dam Busters.
The 617 Dambuster Squadron is currently based at RAF Lossiemouth. The singer said: “It’s great to do this and try and help the campaign. Its a good feeling.”
Last night’s screening also carried a special message of support from Hollywood.
Elgin-born actor Kevin McKidd, who starred in the films Trainspotting and Dog Soldiers, as well as TV series Rome, told the crowd: “Lossiemouth is rightly proud of its station as the home of the squadron.
“The RAF matters in Moray and I am sure you will agree that this is where it should stay.”
Last night’s screening and song performance was the latest in a long line of steps being taken to highlight the crucial role of the RAF in Moray.
Campaigners, led by the Save RAF Lossie Action Group, travelled through the night by coach to London to hand-deliver a 32,000-name petition to Lossiemouth earlier this month. And more than 7,000 people marched through Lossiemouth the month before.
The leader of Save the RAF Lossiemouth Action Group and SNP Lossiemouth councillor Dave Stewart said he was “delighted” with the latest phase of the campaign.
He said: “We will get the CDs of the new song produced next week and it will be on sale on the internet at iTunes and on YouTube.
“I think its an absolutely brilliant song, its better than half of the songs that are in the charts right now.”
CDs will be sent to Prime Minister David Cameron and Defence Secretary Liam Fox in London.
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Hollywood star McKidd to support Lossiemouth's RAF Campaign Elgin's Hollywood star Kevin McKidd looks set to back the campaign to save RAF Lossiemouth.
By Stuart Crowther
Kevin McKidd - recorded support for Lossie campaign
A successful Hollywood actor looks set to lend his support to the campaign to save the Royal Air Force base at Lossiemouth.
Star of ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Kevin McKidd has been asked to record a special message to be shown ahead of a screening of ‘The Dambusters’ at the Playhouse Cinema in Elgin on 19 January.
The Save RAF Lossiemouth campaign has organised the screening as a reminder of the history of RAF Lossiemouth based 617 Squadron, the squadron that was first formed in 1943 with the specific task of attacking the Rhur Dams in Nazi Germany’s industrial heartland. That raid and its success are famously recorded in the ‘Dambusters’ movie.
Later in the war 617 Squadron used RAF Lossiemouth as a platform from which to launch their successful attack on the German battleship Tirpitz. The squadron and their Tornado fighters returned to RAF Lossiemouth on permanent deployment in 1994.
Born in Elgin in 1973, Kevin McKidd attended Seafield Primary School before going on to Elgin Academy, his interest in acting starting as a member of the St Giles Theatre Group. He left Elgin to attend Edinburgh University intending to become an engineer - however he dropped out of University with an eye to acting becoming his full-time career.
After enrolling to study drama at the prestigious Queen Margaret’s College in Edinburgh, Kevin enrolled with the Edinburgh University student group ‘Bedlam Theatre’.
He made his movie debut in the 1996 film ‘Small Faces’ as well as making an appearance on hit TV series ‘Father Ted’ in the same year. It was however his appearance as Tommy in the box-office hit ‘Trainspotting’ that drew attention to his acting abilities.
Since then he has starred in numerous television and movie roles, notably ‘The Acid House’ in 1998, ‘Dog Soldiers’ in 2002, ‘Hannibal Rising’ in 2007 and the 2008 movie ‘Made of Honor’. More recently Kevin has starred in the hit television series ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ in the role of Owen Hunt.
Kevin, who is married with two children and currently living in Los Angeles, is now expected to set the scene for the special Dambusters screening by highlighting the link 617 Squadron has with RAF Lossiemouth, and will tell the audience:
“Lossie is rightly proud of its status as the home of 617 Squadron. The Royal Air Force matters to Moray and this is where it should stay. I wish you every success in keeping the RAF in Moray, this is a battle that must be won.”
Tickets for the special screening priced at £5 are on sale in Lossiemouth at Buckley’s Newsagents, Lossiemouth Post Office and Grampian Furnishers, as well as at the Playhouse Cinema in Elgin.
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