Search and rescue (SAR) helicopters bound for Derriford hospital have landed at Bickleigh Barracks, in Plymouth, the home of 42 Commando Royal Marines, for the first time.
The Plymouth based Royal Marines offered their football pitch as a landing site after the hospital lost the use of their previous site at the nearby University of St Mark & St John.
An RAF Rescue Sea King, from Chivenor based 22 Squadron (A Flight), landed early this afternoon (Tuesday) to transfer a casualty from elsewhere to a waiting ambulance.
Sea Kings are too large for the current landing site at the hospital and require an ambulance to transport casualties over the final leg of their journey.
A £2 million plan was announced in September to build a new helipad at the hospital which will be capable of handling the huge SAR helicopters.
The regular SAR landings will be just another feature of daily life at the busy Bickleigh Barracks as marines there prepare to leave for imminent training exercises in the icy temperatures of northern Norway.
42 Commando Royal Marines are one of three deployable units which form the global reach of 3 Commando Brigade.
