Special visitors mark anniversary

The Memorial welcomed three descendants of one of the greatest names in military aviation history at this year’s commemorative service to mark the 85^th anniversary of Battle of Britain Day.

The event, at the Battle of Britain Memorial here at Capel-le-Ferne, paid tribute to Air Chief Marshal Sir Keith Park, one of the men who helped mastermind the RAF’s victory in the aerial conflict that changed the course of history.

On 15 September, Battle of Britain Day, we were joined by Brian Park, the grandson of Sir Keith’s brother Frank, Alex Neill, the grandson of Sir Keith’s sister Lily, and Susie Hunt, the granddaughter of his eldest sister Frances during a poignant day of commemoration.

They laid a wreath at the end of the short commemorative service that is held each year on Battle of Britain Day, laid another below the bust of the famed wartime commander and paused to read his name on the Christopher Foxley-Norris Memorial Wall.

Sir Keith was in command of Fighter Command’s 11 Group, which was responsible for defending London and the hard-hit South East corner of the country in 1940, reporting directly to Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of RAF Fighter Command Sir Hugh Dowding.

The two men’s leadership helped the RAF defeat the superior numbers of the Luftwaffe, keep this country safe from invasion and thus ensure the south coast could be used as the springboard for the D-Day invasion four years later.

The family members, visiting the UK from New Zealand, which was also home to Sir Keith, joined visitors and local people at the annual commemorative service held at the National Memorial to the Few, the centrepiece of the clifftop tribute.

Air Chief Marshal’s name was added to the Christopher Foxley-Norris Memorial Wall earlier this year after he was formally recognised as one of ‘the Few’, the airmen who took part in the Battle.

The research that led to that honour being granted was led by historian, author and honorary vice-president of the Battle of Britain Memorial Trust Dilip Sarkar MBE, who has recently completed a one million word official history of the Battle for the Trust.

On Sunday 14 September Dilip was joined by historian and film maker Philip Harvey to present a well-attended presentation entitled Missing in Action: Resting in Peace? which looked at the fate of the ‘missing Few’ – the airmen who were shot down and listed as ‘missing’ during the Battle. Philip’s short film Forgotten was also shown and the two men answered questions from those attending before Dilip signed copies of his eight-volume epic.

Dilip, a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and of the Royal Aeronautical Society, said it had been a privilege to have met members of the Park family and to see Sir Keith’s name on the memorial wall at Capel-le-Ferne after his work to prove he flew operationally during the Battle.