- Type of Memorial
- Stone of remembrance
- WMR Reference Number
- 44069
- Description
- Slightly tapered granite obelisk set upon a two stepped base with the lettering inscribed in gold on the faces 1 and 3. An explanatory tablet is set into a drystone dyke behind.
- Inscription
- Face 1: NEAR HERE AND VERY EARLY ON 8 JANUARY 1943/ FLIGHT LIEUTENANT RICHARD HOPE HILLARY RAFVR/ AND SERGEANT KENNETH WILFRID YOUNG FISON RAFVR/ WERE KILLED WHEN THEIR BLENHEIM V/ CRASHED AT CRUNKLAW./
THIS MEMORIAL IS DEDICATED TO THEIR MEMORY/ AND TO THAT OF THE MANY OTHER OFFICERS,/ NCO'S AND AIRMEN WHO LOST THEIR LIVES/ WHILE SERVING AT RAF CHARTERHALL,/ MAY 1942 - MAY 1945/ The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death/ 1 Corinthians XV 26/
Face 3: Richard Hillary fought in the Battle of Britain/ with 603 (City of Edinburgh) Squadron, RAF./ Shot down and severely burned in 1940,/ he recorded his experiences in his book/ THE LAST ENEMY before returning to/ flying duties in November 1942,/ Before the war he had stroked the Trinity College VIII/ to the head of the River at Oxford./ Wilfred Fison, his radio observer, had been/ awarded a hockey blue at Clare College Cambridge/ in 1927. He joined the RAFVR in December 1941./ The two men had flown together/ for less than two weeks./
Wall tablet: This memorial, funded by members of/ Trinity College and their friends,/ was unveiled on 6 November 2001 by/ HRH The Duke of Kent, KG/ in the presence of/ the Reverend Geoffrey Fison/ who dedicated it,/ of Denise Patterson to whom/ THE LAST ENEMY is dedicated and of/ Major Alexander Trotter,/ Her Majesty's Lord Lieutenant,/ on whose land it stands./ The lamp below is the last surviving/ runway directional light from RAF Charterhall.