Ceremony to rename ex-RAF station

The base will be home to more than 1,000 troops and their families

The former RAF Innsworth base near Gloucester will be officially renamed as an army barracks later.

NATO's Allied Rapid Reaction Corps (ARRC) will be transferring to the site from Germany in 2010.

The move will bring more than 1,000 troops and their families to the Innsworth area.

The site is to be renamed Imjin Barracks, in homage to the heroic actions of the Gloster regiment in a valiant battle during the Korean War.

"It was a particular battle in Imjin River in 1951 where the first Gloster battalion distinguished itself in battle, which led to a VC award to Lt Col Carne," said John Waterhouse who has been involved in the relocation process.

"It chimes in well with the local community and has a rather multi-national flavour to it."

Spending power

The Innsworth site opened in 1940 as a training base for the Women's Auxiliary Air Force.

In 1994, it became the RAF's Personnel and Training Command centre.

In 2005, it was announced the base would close as part of a programme of efficiency savings.

RAF personnel left the site March this year.

Its new role was announced in May.

Residents and business leaders were concerned that the airbase's closure would have a serious impact on the community's social fabric and economy.

The return of a military presence is a welcomed move.

Colonel Joe Fuller, from Project Barona, said: "It's hard to predict what the spending power will be, but hopefully it will be tens of millions of pounds of wages will be coming through this site.

"Therefore, people will be living and carrying out their lives, playing in local sports teams, getting involved in other activities in Gloucester, Cheltenham and the surrounding areas."

Friday's ceremony will be attended by ARRC chiefs, Gloucestershire MPs, civic and community leaders and veterans from "the Glorious Glosters".