A ceremony to mark the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Britain went awry this evening when a man, understood to be a member of a Polish cadet group, was injured on Aberdeen Beach.
Dozens of people watched from the esplanade as the man, believed to be in his twenties, was stretchered into an ambulance – one of four on the scene outside The Range at Queens Links Leisure Park.
Witnesses said the man hurt his ankle or leg while running to take a group picture with soldiers of different nationalities.
One man, who said he pulled aside barriers blocking access to a certain stretch of the beach to allow the paramedics to treat the man, said the casualty was in his twenties.
He added: “There were different groups of cadets on the beach, of all different nationalities, there to mark the anniversary of the Battle of Britain.
“The gathering was just among cadets, it hadn’t been advertised to keep the numbers down.”
“This one guy was a member of the Polish cadet group and he was running to get a photograph taken when he fell over.
“I’m not sure if it was his leg or his ankle, but something snapped.”
Earlier in the day, military insignias had been etched in the sand to mark eight decades since the end of the battle, when RAF Fighter Command claimed victory over the German Luftwaffe.