A fly past by a Second World War vintage Hurricane from the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight will mark the 40th anniversary of Aquafest in Ely.

The event, organised by the Rotary Clubs of Ely, will take place on July 1 and will see thousands of spectators turn out for the annual river gala.

The Hurricane was inaugurated on July 11 1957, at RAF Biggin Hill in Kent, as the ‘RAF Historic Aircraft Flight’.

The flight was soon renamed the ‘Battle of Britain Flight’ and then in 1969, to reflect its wider commemorative role, it became the ‘Battle of Britain Memorial Flight’ (BBMF).

Now, as a ‘museum without walls’, it maintains twelve historic and irreplaceable aircraft in airworthy condition: an Avro Lancaster, a C-47 Dakota, six Spitfires, two Hurricanes and two de Havilland Chipmunk training aircraft.

The BBMF is a regular RAF unit, manned by Service personnel and funded by the Ministry of Defence.

Nearer the time we will be able to publish the exact time of the flight on our FaceBook account @ElyAquafest.