Men and women from HMS Cambria march through Cardiff city centre for the first time
HMS Cambria, the home to Royal Navy and Royal Marine reservists, has been bestowed with Cardiff's highest honour – it has been granted the Freedom of the City.
Only 62 individuals and 11 organisations, including Nelson Mandela, Dame Shirley Bassey, HMS Dragon and HMS Cardiff, have been granted Freedom of the City.
The honour permits personnel from HMS Cambria to march through the city centre parading the freedom scroll, led by the Band of His Majesty's Royal Marines.
The parade was the first and last for Lieutenant Commander Jonathan Buckley.
After 33 years of volunteering, he is retiring at the end of the month.
He said: "It's been an enormous privilege to share the Freedom of Cardiff parade with HMS Cambria ship's company and a fitting way to end my Royal Navy service."
HMS Cambria has been associated with Cardiff for 75 years, despite moving to several different locations in South Wales.
In 1978, after its Cardiff base was earmarked for demolition, it was relocated and, in the subsequent years, several attempts were made to bring it back to Cardiff.
Finally, in 2018, a site was found and in 2020 it moved into its £11m state-of-the-art facility in the heart of Cardiff bay.
Every week, 80 Royal Navy and Royal Marine reservists use the facilities.
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