UK: RAF Squadron Bans “Crusader” Nickname After Single Complaint

RIP Crusader.

Gone but never forgotten.

Lincolnshire Live:

An RAF squadron has ditched its historic nickname after a formal complaint was made saying it is offensive to Muslims. Located at RAF Waddington, 14 Squadron was formed in 1915 and gained its nickname ‘Crusaders’ after its airmen flew sorties over Gaza and Palestine during the First World War.

However, crews have now been told to strip out any references to the word around their hangar after a crew member filed a formal complaint, reports the Express. The Crusades describe the religious conflict between Christians and Muslims during the medieval era over two centuries, starting in 1095.

The first 30 years of 14 Squadron’s history were closely connected to the Middle East, with pilots more recently involved in the first Gulf War in 1991 and Kosovo in 1999. It is one of the RAF’s most senior and longest-serving squadrons. The change was triggered by one complaint, reports the Mail on Sunday.

One insider said: “If they’d have asked members of the squadron, rather than dictating this change, almost everyone would have been in favour of retaining ‘Crusaders’ because it is so much part of our history. There was never any prejudice or malice in the name.

“Every squadron, every regiment has a past. But if that past doesn’t suit current thinking it will be erased.”

Hardcore.

Erasing the past to control the future is a really interesting idea I never thought of before.

I wonder where they came up with that?