- Type of Memorial
- Sculptured / Cast group
- WMR Reference Number
- 38895
- Description
- A wall of stone cut through with an oblique walkway. Names of airmen from the 15 countries who fought in the Battle of Britain are listed on the outside.
There are several scenes cast in bronze on the inside of the memorial. These include: pilots at rest, members of the Observer Corps watching for an attack, ground crews arming hurricanes, pilots scrambling, close-up of a pilot's face, pilots sharing stories in the mess hall, hop pickers in Kent watching an aerial battle, anti-aircraft gunners, women working in a factory, pilot closely pursued by a Luftwaffe pilot, St Paul's Cathedral surrounded by smoke from the Blitz, people searching the ruins after an air raid and a family making tea in an Anderson shelter.
The outlines of a Bristol Beaufighter, Bristol Blenheim, Gloster Galdiator, Bolton Paul Defiant and a Hawker Hurricane are etched on the name panels.
The RAF roundel, carved in granite, is set in the ground between the two halves of the wall. A large bronze insignia of Fighter Command is set into the western end of the memorial.
- Inscription
- WAR WITH NAZI GERMANY BEGAN IN SEPTEMBER/ 1939 AND BY JUNE 1940 HITLER'S FORCES HAD/ OCCUPIED MOST OF WESTERN EUROPE, WITH FASCIST/ REGIMES ALSO RULING IN ITALY AND SPAIN. FURTHER EXPANSION OF NAZI DOMINATION IN EUROPE/ DEPENDED ON BRITAIN BEING NEUTRALISED BY EITHER INVASION OR SURRENDER UNDER GERMAN TERMS.
AS PRIME MINISTER WINSTON CHURCHILL VOWED THAT/ BRITAIN WOULD NEVER SURRENDER, THE GERMAN HIGH COMMAND COMMENCED 'OPERATION SEALION', THE INVASION OF BRITAIN. THE FIRST PRIORITY WAS FOR/ GERMANY'S LUFTWAFFE TO GAIN CONTROL OF THE SKIES/ ABOVE THE ENGLISH CHANNEL AND SOUTH EAST ENGLAND/ TO PREVENT THE ROYAL NAVY AND ROYAL AIR FORCE/ ATTACKING THE GERMAN INVASION FORCES WHILE THEY WERE AT SEA.
ON 10TH JULY 1940 THE LUFTWAFFE STARTED A SERIES OF/ ATTACKS ON PORTS AND CONVOYS IN THE ENGLISH CHANNEL. USING ADVANCED WARNING FROM RADAR/ STATIONS. BRITAIN WAS DEFENDED IN THE AIR BY RAF/ FIGHTER COMMAND UNDER AIR CHIEF MARSHAL HUGH DOWDING, WITH BACKUP FROM BALLOON BARRAGES AND/ ANTI-AIRCRAFT GUN INSTALLATIONS ON THE GROUND. BY/ EARLY AUGUST, WITH GERMAN INVASION FORCES AND/ LANDING CRAFT BEING ASSEMBLED ON THE FRENCH COAST,/ THE ATTACKS BECAME MUCH HEAVIER, WITH GERMAN/ BOMBERS AND FIGHTERS CONCENTRATING ON RAF/ AIRFIELDS AND AIRCRAFT FACTORIES.
DURING THE HOT SUMMER OF 1940, PILOTS, MANY UNDER TWENTY YEARS OF AGE. WOULD 'SCRAMBLE' FOR THEIR/ AIRCRAFT TO INTERCEPT ENEMY RAIDS AS OFTEN AS FIVE/ TIMES A DAY AND INTO THE NIGHT. OUTNUMBERED IN AIR/ BATTLES, EXHAUSTED RAF SQUADRONS WERE ROTATED TO/ STATIONS ELSEWHERE IN BRITAIN AND REPLACED BY FRESH UNITS, OFTEN CONTAINING A HIGH PROPORTION OF LESS/ EXPERIENCED PILOTS.
BY EARLY SEPTEMBER THE INCREASINGLY CRITICAL SITUATION, ESPECIALLY IN AIR VICE MARSHAL KEITH/ PARK'S 11 GROUP, WAS RELIEVED TEMPORARILY BY THE/ LUFTWAFFE TURNING ITS ATTENTION TO LONDON IN A FINAL/ ATTEMPT TO BREAK THE BRITISH WILL TO RESIST. THE/ TURNING POINT CAME ON 15TH SEPTEMBER WHEN TWO/ HUGE AIR ATTACKS WERE REPULSED WITH HEAVY LOSSES/ LEADING HITLER TO CONCEDE THAT AN INVASION WOULD/ FAIL. DAY AND NIGHT ATTACKS CONTINUED THROUGH TO/ MAY 1941 BUT THE MAIN ASSAULT HAD ENDED BY LATE/ OCTOBER 1940. THIS FAILURE TO SUBDUE BRITAIN/ WOULD ULTIMATELY COST GERMANY THE WAR.
OF THE 2936 PILOTS AND AIRCREW WHO FOUGHT IN/ RAF FIGHTER COMMAND IN THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN,/ 544 LOST THEIR LIVES AND A FURTHER 795 DID NOT LIVE/ TO SEE THE FINAL VICTORY IN 1945. ONE IN SIX WERE/ FROM COUNTRIES OUTSIDE THE UNITED KINGDOM AND/ ON THE PLAQUES SURROUNDING THIS MONUMENT, THEIR/ NAMES HAVE BEEN GROUPED ACCORDING TO COUNTRY OF/ ORIGIN. THE PLAQUES ALSO/ FEATURE THE BADGES OF THEIR SQUADRONS.
IT IS IN HONOUR OF THE SPIRIT AND SACRIFICE OF THOSE/ KNOWN AS 'THE FEW' AND THOSE SUPPORTING/ THEM THAT THIS MONUMENT HAS BEEN ERECTED.