The group of RSPB conservationists

A rescue mission in one of the most isolated places in the world

The RAF has helped rescue a team of conservationists stranded on a remote island

Ministry of Defence
Voices Of The Armed Forces
3 min readMay 27, 2020

--

A group of 12 from the RSPB arrived on Gough Island to work on a programme to save endangered seabirds from giant mice at the end of February 2020. The mice eat chicks alive and kill more than two million birds in the area every year.

But when the coronavirus outbreak worsened globally in the middle of March, the RSPB had to postpone the project and find a way to return the group to the UK from the isolated spot. The island, part of the British Overseas Territory Tristan da Cunha, is about 1,700 miles west of Cape Town.

The RAF worked together with members of the Foreign Office to find them a route home — a 12-day sail to Ascension Island from where an RAF A400M aircraft flew them back to the UK.

A member of 70 Squadron, who fly the Atlas, said:

“RAF Brize Norton continually operates the airborne link to the Ascension Islands, with resupply operations being carried out by our A400M Atlas. On this occasion, we were delighted to assist the FCO in bringing home the group of conservationists who had become stranded following the outbreak of the coronavirus. ”

Based at RAF Brize Norton, 70 Squadron provides strategic air transport worldwide. The squadron provided vital support to the UK relief effort in the Caribbean after Hurricane Irma.

An RAF A400M aircraft in action

With the closest countries’ borders closing rapidly, they worked around the clock to devise a plan to get the group off the island and safely back home.

South Africa was the most obvious destination for the team but the developing travel restrictions in the country meant this option had to be ruled out.

The Falkland Islands were identified as the next-best option, but it was at least a 20-day sail away with deteriorating weather conditions.

Eventually a plan was made for a 12 day sail to Ascension Island, a journey of 1969 nautical miles through rough seas.

Kate Lawrence, who was among the RSPB group, said:

“Sailing in that boat for 12 days, looking at the endless blue ocean around me, made the world feel quite big, in contrast to the previous ease of air travel and the rapid spread of COVID-19, which makes the world seem so small.”

The location of Gough Island in the middle of the South Atlantic Ocean — far removed from any major landmass

At Ascension, the Head of Administrator’s Office, Xander Halliwell and RAF Base Commander, Wing Commander John Kane, quickly worked to get the group on the next RAF Atlas flight, due to arrive on the island five days later to deliver essential supplies, before returning to RAF Brize Norton.

The charity intends to return to the island in 2021 and continue the project. The Foreign Office has helped more than 370 British nationals, on short term trips to the Overseas Territories, to return to the UK. The Foreign Office has also helped more than 360 British nationals return to their homes in UK Overseas Territories.

The RAF Atlas aircraft which transported the group to Brize Norton.

--

--

Ministry of Defence
Voices Of The Armed Forces

DefenceHQ is the official corporate news channel of the UK Ministry of Defence.