THE MEMORIAL

The idea for a National Memorial to The Few came from one of their number. Wing Commander Geoffrey Page had been a 20-year-old Hurricane pilot with 56 Squadron in the Battle. On 12 August 1940 Pilot Officer Page was shot down and baled out into the sea with terrible burns.

Geoffrey went on to become a founding member of the Guinea Pig Club for RAF personnel treated at the Queen Victoria Hospital by the team of plastic surgeons led by Archie McIndoe. Determination and courage ensured that Geoffrey returned to operational flying. He was awarded the DFC and bar and at the time he received the DSO in 1944, he was credited with destroying 15 enemy aircraft. A crash late in the war seriously injured him again and he returned to East Grinstead.

His growing belief that The Few must be remembered led Geoffrey to the area of Dover and Folkestone - "Hellfire Corner" in 1940 - over which so much of the fighting had taken place. The Battle of Britain Memorial Trust was established and fund raising began.

The site that was chosen at Capel le Ferne had played its part in both world wars.

In the 1914-18 conflict airships were moored there and in 1941 construction of a gun battery began. Much of the personnel accommodation was underground, including a "hospital" or large sick quarters.

By the end of 1942, naval pattern 8-in guns had been installed, in sites 40 ft deep, protected by concrete walls which were six to eight ft thick. Legend has it that the first ranging shot from Capel struck Dungeness. It was around 1952 that the Army left.

The original plan for the memorial was on a bigger scale than the visitor will see today. Many would argue that the final design, by Harry Gray of the Carving Workshop, Cambridge is moving through its simplicity.

At the time that Harry Gray was approached, he had, by a remarkable coincidence, been thinking of carving a pilot, but could not get the design right. One day Harry and his trainee took a rest and the pose adopted by his colleague provided Harry with inspiration. The seated airman looking out to sea was born, surrounded by the badges of the Allied squadrons and other units that took part in the Battle.

Views of the Memorial

South Kent College 1940 Wall	The Memorial	The Christopher Foxley-Norris Memorial Wall	The Memorial	The Memorial	The Memorial

On 9 July 1993, a day of typical windy and damp Capel weather, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, came by helicopter to perform the official unveiling ceremony. Geoffrey Page's dream had come true.

 

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