Honoured by Royal Visit

The Memorial hosted a very special visitor on Wednesday when His Royal Highness The Duke of Kent toured this clifftop tribute to the men who fought the Battle of Britain.

The Duke was introduced to Trustees, staff members and volunteers, talked to them about the Memorial and later said that he had much enjoyed what had been his first visit to the Memorial at Capel-le-Ferne.

Air Marshal Christopher Nickols, a Deputy Lieutenant for Kent, received the Duke at the entrance to the Memorial and presented him to the President of the Trust, Air Chief Marshal Sir Stephen Dalton, and a number of civic dignitaries.

After visiting Hunting Lodge, once the Memorial’s visitor centre but now transformed into a library, resource centre and business meeting venue, the Duke was taken across to The Wing, where the hon secretary, Group Captain Patrick Tootal, explained the purpose and features of the Memorial.

The Duke then toured The Scramble Experience and watched the unique and moving film highlighting a day in the life of two Battle of Britain pilots before meeting volunteers and staff members in the shop, the Geoffrey Page Centre and the first floor café.

In unpleasantly wet weather, Cadet Warrant Officer Ellie Summers, of 99 (Folkestone) Squadron, Kent Wing Air Training Corps then laid a wreath at the National Memorial to the Few on behalf of the Duke while the Royal visitor watched from the Wing.