Battle of Britain Memorial

[Taz]

On the way back to Dover we stopped off at Capel le Ferne to visit the Battle of Britain Memorial.

Here are a few photo's hope you like them.

[Taz]

The Christoper Foxley-Norris Memorial Wall

[Taz]

Memorial Wall

[Taz]

The Pilot is seated on a sandstone base on which the squadrons and units who fought in the battle are carved.

The RAF recognises 2440 British and 510 overseas pilots who flew at least one authorised operational sortie with an eligible unit of the Royal Air Force or Fleet Air Arm during the period 10 July to 31 October 1940. This group includes 139 Poles, 98 New Zealanders, 86 Canadians, 84 Czechoslovakians, 29 Belgians, 21 Australians, 20 South Africans, 13 French, 10 Irish, 7 from the United States, a Jamaican, a Palestinian Jew and a Southern Rhodesian. 498 RAF pilots were killed during the battle. An Italian expeditionary force called Corpo Aereo Italiano also took part in the latter stages of battle on the German side. The Battle of Britain was the first major battle to be fought entirely in the air. It was the largest and most sustained bombing campaign yet attempted and the first real test of the strategic bombing theories that had emerged since the previous World War.

Foreign contribution

From the very beginning of the war, the Royal Air Force accepted foreign pilots to supplement the dwindling pool of British pilots. The RAF roll of honour for the Battle of Britain recognises[2] 510 overseas pilots as flying at least one authorised operational sortie with an eligible unit of the Royal Air Force or Fleet Air Arm between 10 July and 31 October 1940.

Nationality/ Number

Polish 139

New Zealander 98

Canadian 86

Czechoslovakian 84

Belgian 29

Australian 21

South African 20

French 13

Irish 10

Unknown 8

American 7

Jamaican 1

Palestinian (Jewish) 1

Southern Rhodesian 1

Edited August 21, 2008 by Taz

[Taz]

"The Few"

"The gratitude of every home in our island, in our Empire, and indeed throughout the world, except in the abodes of the guilty, goes out to the British airmen who, undaunted by odds, unwearied in their constant challenge and mortal danger, are turning the tide of the world war by their prowess and by their devotion. Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few. "

Edited August 21, 2008 by Taz

[Taz]

Full Scale Model of a Hawker Hurricane in the markings of 56 Sqn.

"Little Willy," the Mk. I flown by Pilot Officer Geoffrey Page of No. 56 Squadron when he was shot down in August 1940.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geoffrey_Page

Edited August 21, 2008 by Taz

[Taz]

Full Scale Model of a Supermarine Spitfire in the markings of 72 Sqn.

Painted in the colours of the Jeffery Quill OBE AFC, the most famous Spitfire pilot (he was development pilot for prototype K5054). He was so keen to gain battle experience and contribute to the war effort, he enrolled in the Battle of Britain Squadron 65 (Hornchurch), shooting down a Messerchmitt Bf 109E fighter and a Heinkel He 111 bomber.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeffrey_Quill

Edited August 21, 2008 by Taz

[Taz]

Aerial view of the Memorial.

[Tony]

I've been past there so often but have never stopped. One of those things I wished I had done before moving further away.

Tony