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.
—Winston Churchill
It is truly sad to hear just how few of Sir Winston’s famed Few remain. It is, however, heartening to see them honored as they should be.
They were known as the Few but, to recall Winston Churchill’s phrase, they became heroes to many. Yesterday, 65 years after they fought the Luftwaffe to a standstill, repulsing the threat of a Nazi invasion, 70 veterans of the Battle of Britain gathered on Victoria Embankment in central London to see Prince Charles unveil a memorial in their honour.
For the defence secretary, John Reid, who joined the prince and the Conservative leader, Michael Howard, at a Battle of Britain thanksgiving service in Westminster Abbey, yesterday, it was not a moment too soon. “It is a sad and inevitable fact that today the Few are even fewer,” he told the veterans and next of kin. “But that does not diminish the feeling of pride and international recognition that they won by their heroism.”
Prince Charles, as patron of the Battle of Britain Fighter Association, praised Bill Bond, founder of the Battle of Britain Historical Society, whose idea it was to erect a memorial to the pilots, ground crew and munitions workers who, between July and October 1940, prevented a Nazi invasion. “We shall never forget that if the Few had failed … the consequences for this nation would have been unforgettable.”
More details of the memorial can be found in this article.
The £1.65 million memorial was commissioned by the Battle of Britain Historical Society and funded by public subscription. It is made up of two bronze friezes set in an 82ft-long granite structure, originally designed as a smoke outlet for underground trains when they were powered by steam engines.
One frieze depicts all the achievements of Fighter Command, while the other focuses on the people of London, featuring St Paul’s and an Anderson shelter. Accompanying them is a plaque inscribed with the names of the 2,936 pilots and crew from 14 countries who flew in the battle.
The plinth beneath the relief is engraved with Sir Winston Churchill’s famous phrase: “Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.”
Here is the story of the battle, a very important one of many that turned history toward our world of today.