Flt Lt Walker, who died towards the end of last year, was known in his later years as a poet, and a large inscribed copy of his work Our Wall features at one end of the Memorial Wall at Capel-le-Ferne.

A plaque in his memory was unveiled on Sunday after granddaughter Chloe Culpan had read the poem to an appreciate gathering.

Minutes later Sqn Ldr Duncan Mason put the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight’s latest arrival, a clipped wing Mk XIX Spitfire, through its paces in an aerial tribute to William, Spitfire pilot, much-loved family man and one of the Few.

Footage of Flt Lt Walker, who died late last year, will be included in a documentary about attempts by experts from the RAF Museum to raise a Dornier 17 from the English Channel.

The documentary, which features Flt Lt Walker talking about his experiences as a Spitfire pilot during the Battle of Britain, is due to be shown on the BBC’s online News Channel on 18 May, which is likely to be about halfway through the salvage mission.

The Battle of Britain Memorial Trust helped arrange the interview with Flt Lt Walker and the BBC has promised to keep the Trust informed about the transmission date.  We will add more detailed information when we have it.

UPDATE – This just in from the BBC News Channel:

“Dornier 17: The Fall And Rise Of A German Bomber”
Saturday 18 May at 0430 and 2030
Sunday 19 May at 0130 and 2030
Monday 20 May at 0130

The party assembled at the National Memorial to the Few at Capel-le-Ferne and then travelled by coach to Lympne churchyard and airfield and the Kent Battle of Britain Museum at Hawkinge, with its vast collection of fascinating artefacts.

The tour continued to the village of Elham, the former Dover Chain Home station and the graves of British and German airmen from 1940 at Folkestone New Cemetery before finishing with refreshments back at Capel-le-Ferne.

Commentary throughout the day was provided by Geoff Simpson, a trustee of the Memorial Trust and author of A Dictionary of the Battle of Britain.

Among the stories he told were the tragic tale of the Woods-Scawen brothers, one of whom is buried in Folkestone New Cemetery, the heroism of Corporal Avis Hearn at one of the Chain Home stations, for which she received the Military Medal, the moving letter sent to the parents of Pilot Officer “Hops” Whitbread and the card playing Sergeant Geoffrey Pearson of No 501 Squadron, who lies in the beautiful churchyard at Lympne.

At Elham the tour was led by local historians Derek Boughton and Bryan Badham, who included a visit to the scene of a dump for shot down German aircraft and the house where Audrey Hepburn lived at the time.

Lunch at Elham was enlivened by the reminiscences of one of The Few, Wing Commander Bob Foster, DFC, AE, who flew Hurricanes into action from Croydon airfield during the Battle of Britain.

The next tour will be on Saturday September 7. Further details can be obtained from Andrew Simpson, aj.simpson1950@talktalk.net. Alternatively download an application form by clicking the link below.

BoBTours2013

News broke this weekend that the ambitious airshow had been cancelled for a number of reasons, including the difficulty of raising sponsorship to fund an event which would have offered free access to spectators.

The Battle of Britain Memorial Trust had planned the Make and Paint and village celebration as a support event that would have offered visitors a calmer viewing point from which they could have seen some of the aircraft just along the coast off the Leas at Folkestone.

Since the National Memorial is at the very eastern end of what would have been the display line, the airshow was never billed as the main attraction and so the face painting, farmers’ market, hog roast and kit-building event will continue.

As always, admission to the site, and parking, will be free. Just don’t forget to throw some money in one of our collecting tins.

For more information click here.

For a small annual membership which helps to fund the Battle of Britain Memorial Trust, Friends receive a number of benefits, including a fascinating annual magazine – 1940 – edited by Trustee Geoff Simpson, a well-respected Battle of Britain author and historian.

The 2013 edition of 1940 magazine has just been printed and will shortly be posted to Friends of the Few – and you could receive yours by signing up. Simply download the Application Form (0.85mb) as a PDF document, complete it and return it to the Trust.

Not only will you be supporting the Trust in a very real way, you will also be able to read about the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, a recently-solved Memorial Wall mystery, Flying Officer Ken Wilkinson, how the RAF went by sea to Dunkirk, the St George’s Chapel at Biggin Hill and the RAF College, Cranwell.

This will be the 13th time that Friends have received this fascinating annual publication; don’t miss your chance to obtain a copy and support the Trust.

Jo’s piece on the unveiling was broadcast the following weekend and can be heard by clicking here - Battle of Britain Pilot Package

The piece features Trustee, distinguished Hurricane pilot and one of Churchill’s “Few”, Wing Commander Bob Foster DFC, AE.  Wing Cdr Foster was among those who attended the unveiling of a memorial to Sergeant Pilot Robert HB (Bobby) Fraser in woodland near Ashford.

Sgt Fraser died when his Hurricane, V6851 of No 257 Squadron, crashed at Moat Farm Shadoxhurst on 22 October 1940.

The plaque was unveiled by Kent High Sheriff Michael Bax, whose land at Moat Farm was the site of the crash 73 years ago and who felt there should be a permanent memorial to the airman.

On 3 September 1940, Sgt Fraser was credited with the probable destruction of a Bf 110 near North Weald. Just over a month later his aircraft crashed after an encounter with Messerschmitt Bf 109s over Folkestone.

The plaque and base, made and donated by Gordon Newton of the Stone Shop, Maidstone, marks the woodland spot where the Hurricane crashed. Sgt Fraser is interred in Craigton Cemetery, Glasgow.

Six standard bearers from ex-service organisations were at the ceremony for Sgt Fraser, who was just 20 when he died. The service was led by the Rev. Rod Whateley, the Vicar of Warehorne.

Mr Whateley said Sgt Fraser had “paid the ultimate price for our freedom,” adding that the plaque would be “a lasting reminder of his courage, bravery and sacrifice.”

The Battle of Britain Memorial Trust’s own Geoff Simpson outlined Sgt Fraser’s career during the early days of the Second World War.

For photographs of the event, follow this link to the story or look for it under the Events tab.

Debb set out to run two half marathons in support of The Battle of Britain Memorial Trust’s new visitor and learning centre, and despite a change of plan caused by the weather she looks set to raise £1,500 or more by the time she crosses her fund-raising finishing line.

Debb, whose husband Willy Hackett MBE is an RAF pilot who instructs in the two-seat Boultbee Flight Academy Spitfire, decided to run the Bath half marathon in the spring and the Great North Run in the autumn.

She set up an online fund-raising page at https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/forthefew and began training, but soon found she needed flexibility as well as fitness.

Unable to secure a place in the Bath race, she switched her attention to the Forest of Dean Half Marathon in March – only to see it cancelled on the day because of the weather.

But Debb was determined to press on: “ I had trained to run a half marathon that day and I felt ready for it, so I decided to run the distance on my own,” she said. “It was very cold, but my sponsors were very happy to support me and I completed the half as planned.”

Because Debb and Willy have now been posted to Washington DC from July, she has also had to abandon her plans to make the Great North Run her second event, but her Battle of Britain-style determination has again shone through and she will instead run her second half in the States.

“Two halves on two continents will make a whole marathon,” she said. “I think that’s rather fun.” Her supporters clearly think so too, with her fund-raising target already broken and money still coming in.

Both Debb and Willy have met a number of Battle of Britain pilots – including the late Flt. Lt. William Walker AE, who died at the end of last year aged 99 – and share their determination that The Wing must be built to keep alive the memory of this historic victory and how it was achieved.

“I’m a very amateur runner who wants to make sure there’s a proper visitors’ centre at the Battle of Britain Memorial,” said Debb. “I want to help us all remember the Few.

“People have been very generous with their donations and with running advice, and even Paula Radcliffe gave me some pre-run words of wisdom and said I’d done well when I reported back.”

You can help Debb reach her goal – and ours – by signing up to her MyDonate fundraising page at https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/forthefew

Just follow this link to find out how you can win a fight in a Harvard T-6 in this year’s Grand Draw in aid of The Wing.

Those who were present on that historic day will be hoping for better weather. Driving wind and rain threatened to prevent the Royal helicopter from landing on the site at Capel-le-Ferne winds, leading to an interesting tale of the Queen Mother’s determination.

Rumour has it that when the pilot asked if he should give in to the appalling weather, turn around and take her home, the Queen Mother said that as “her boys” had not turned back in 1940 she wasn’t going to turn back either. The story may or may not be true but has acquired legendary status.

This year’s Memorial Day – the biggest annual event in the Trust’s calendar – will take place on Sunday 14 July and will again be attended by as many surviving members of the Few as are able to be there. The Trust is hoping somewhere around ten or a dozen veterans will be able to attend.

The Battle of Britain Memorial  Flight will again be supporting the event with a flypast, while music will again be provided by the RAF Central Band and the Kent Wing of the Air Training Corps.

The event is free to attend and there will be a bar and catering on the site, which will open at 10am, with the General Salute at 1.30pm and the flypast at 3pm.

You can listen to the recording, kindly supplied by the BBC, by clicking on the link below:

Xmas 2012 Battle of Britain Look Ahead Package