A BRADFORD pilot led the Red Arrows flypast during the opening ceremony of the 2022 Commonwealth Games.

Squadron Leader Tom Bould, who grew up in Heaton and is Red 1 for the Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team, led the patriotic moment during the ceremony held in Birmingham on Thursday night.

Fireworks, a music set from the city's own Duran Duran and a 10-metre high bull greeted a sell-out crowd at the Alexander Stadium in Perry Barr for the biggest sporting event in the UK since the London Olympics in 2012.

 

Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall joined her husband as they entered the arena in a blue soft-top Aston Martin DB6 Volante.

The couple then stood on a platform while 72 other red, white and blue cars with links to the Birmingham car industry formed a Union Jack flag.

Bradford Telegraph and Argus: The Red Arrows flypast at the Commonwealth Games opening ceremony The Red Arrows flypast at the Commonwealth Games opening ceremony

They then took their seats as the Red Arrows display team flew over the stadium leaving a red, white and blue trail.

Sqn Ldr Bould, a former student of Woodhouse Grove School, Apperley Bridge, joined the RAF in 2005.

Bradford Telegraph and Argus: Squadron Leader Tom Bould was a team pilot with the Red Arrows between 2015 and 2017Squadron Leader Tom Bould was a team pilot with the Red Arrows between 2015 and 2017

He was previously a Red Arrows team pilot between 2015 and 2017, in the Reds 5, 7 and 6 positions respectively.