Former Chesterfield RAF Squadron Leader to take part in sailing expedition carrying Invictus Games Flag around the UK

Jayne Lindley will join the Full Circle Expedition an epic 2,000-nautical-mile voyage around the UK. The flag will be raised at ports along the route to build momentum towards the Games and the official one-year-to-go milestone event at the NEC in July 2026.

Jayne, 56, was invited to join the expedition, organised by the veterans charity Turn to Starboard, to help reconnect with fellow veterans and reflect on the 25th anniversary of the death of a close friend.

She said; “For me this trip, alongside being a personal challenge physically and mentally, will also be a time for reflection. A chance to look back on a 28-year career when I embarked on a journey into the unknown and remember some of the people I have lost along the way.

“The first leg of the expedition, that I’ll be on, will mark 25 years since my good friend Linda Yarr drowned in a yacht capsize off Australia, aged 35. I initially took up sailing to honour her memory, and sailing helps keep her memory alive. Like me, she loved the ocean.”

While at St Helena Girls' High School in Chesterfield a visit by a recruitment team sowed the seed that led Jayne to join the RAF aged 19. She completed a six-year commission then left to pursue a Sport Science Degree at Nottingham Trent University.

After travelling around the world in 83 days, graduating with honours and working for Sport England’s youth sports development team, Jayne was drawn back to the tempo of ‘the frontline’ and in 2003 rejoined on Op TELIC in Baghdad, working alongside US Forces in an air logistics role.

“I remember clearly the sights and sounds of Baghdad in 2003. Saddam Hussein was still at large, and the airfield was a high value target for the enemy force as it was our main point of entry for equipment and people into the region. We worked in air movement logistics alongside American forces, experiencing constant RPG attacks day and night within a couple of kilometres of our position.”

A highlight of Jayne’s career was co-organising a Diamond Jubilee Pageant for Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip at RAF Cosford in 2012, enjoyed by 25000 locals and school children. “Being presented to The Queen was a huge honour, although my curtsey still needs work.”

Jayne also faced some major setbacks including a significant head injury. She added; “On a winter survival training course in 1993 I was hit by a car, rendering me unconscious for an hour, hypothermic and then confined to hospital for a week before being medically evacuated back to the UK to complete my recovery.

“I was 23 at the time of the accident and at the peak of my fitness and was in the running for the first RAF female bobsleigh team. I think I've probably never really got over that lost opportunity.”

To find out more go to: https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/t2sfullcircle