List Of RAF Aircrew In The Battle Of Britain (V-Z)
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The List of RAF aircrew in the Battle of Britain is a summary regarding the lists of those who flew during the
Battle of Britain The Battle of Britain, also known as the Air Battle for England (german: die Luftschlacht um England), was a military campaign of the Second World War, in which the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) of the Royal Navy defende ...
, and were awarded the Battle of Britain Clasp to the 1939–45 Star by flying at least one authorised operational sortie with an eligible unit of the Royal Air Force or Fleet Air Arm during the period from 0001 hours on 10 July to 2359 hours 31 October 1940. (There are a few names missing from this list; check on The Battle of Britain Society web site.)http://www.raf.mod.uk/history/BattleofBritainRollofHonour.cfm Royal Air Force Battle of Britain Roll of Honour


History

In 1942, the
Air Ministry The Air Ministry was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force, that existed from 1918 to 1964. It was under the political authority of the Secretary of State ...
made the decision to compile a list from records of the names of pilots who had lost their lives as a result of the fighting during the Battle of BritainThis was initially regarded as being from 8 August to 31 October 1940; however, the dates were later amended to also include those who lost their lives between 10 July and 7 August. for the purpose of building a national memorial. This became the
Battle of Britain Chapel At the eastern end of Westminster Abbey in the Lady Chapel built by King Henry VII is the RAF Chapel dedicated to the men of the Royal Air Force who died in the Battle of Britain between July and October 1940. History The chapel received exte ...
at
Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United ...
, which was unveiled by
King George VI George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death in 1952. He was also the last Emperor of Ind ...
on 10 July 1947. The Roll of Honour within the Chapel contains the names of 1,497 pilots and aircrew killed or mortally wounded during the Battle. Nothing was done officially, however, to define the qualifications for the classification of a Battle of Britain airman until 9 November 1960. ''AMO N850'', published by the Air Ministry, stated for the first time the requirements for the awarding of the Battle of Britain clasp to the 1939-1945 Star, and listed the 71 units which were deemed to have been under the control of
RAF Fighter Command RAF Fighter Command was one of the commands of the Royal Air Force. It was formed in 1936 to allow more specialised control of fighter aircraft. It served throughout the Second World War. It earned near-immortal fame during the Battle of Britai ...
. In 1955 Flt Lt John Holloway, a serving RAF officer, began a personal challenge to compile a complete list of "
The Few The Few were the airmen of the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the aviators of the Fleet Air Arm, Royal Navy (RN) who fought the Battle of Britain in the Second World War. The term comes from Winston Churchill's phrase "Never was so much owed by so ma ...
". After fourteen years of research Flt Lt Holloway had 2,946 names on the list. Of these airmen, 537 were killed during the Battle or later died of wounds received. The Battle of Britain Memorial Trust, founded by
Geoffrey Page Alan Geoffrey Page, (16 May 1920 – 3 August 2000), known as Geoffrey Page, was an officer in the Royal Air Force who served during the Second World War. He participated in the Battle of Britain, and was shot down. He was badly burned when his ...
, raised funds for the construction of the Battle of Britain Memorial at Capel-le-Ferne near
Folkestone Folkestone ( ) is a port town on the English Channel, in Kent, south-east England. The town lies on the southern edge of the North Downs at a valley between two cliffs. It was an important harbour and shipping port for most of the 19th and 20t ...
in
Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...
. The Memorial, unveiled by
Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon (4 August 1900 – 30 March 2002) was Queen of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 to 6 February 1952 as the wife of King George VI. She was the l ...
on 9 July 1993, shares the site with the
Christopher Foxley-Norris Air Chief Marshal Sir Christopher Neil Foxley-Norris, (16 March 1917 – 28 September 2003) was a senior commander in the Royal Air Force (RAF). A squadron commander during the Second World War, he later served as Commander-in-Chief RAF Germany ...
Memorial Wall on which a complete list of "The Few" is engraved. More recently, the Battle of Britain Monument on the
Victoria Embankment Victoria Embankment is part of the Thames Embankment, a road and river-walk along the north bank of the River Thames in London. It runs from the Palace of Westminster to Blackfriars Bridge in the City of London, and acts as a major thoroughfare ...
in London was unveiled on 18 September 2005 by Charles, Prince of Wales and his wife Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall. The idea for the monument was conceived by the Battle of Britain Historical Society which then set about raising funds for its construction. The outside of the monument is lined with bronze plaques listing all the Allied airmen who took part in the Battle.Battle of Britain London Monument – project history
Retrieved 15 April 2009.


Lists of names


See also

* Non-British personnel in the RAF during the Battle of Britain * List of World War II aces from the United Kingdom * List of World War II aces by country * List of World War II air aces


Notes


References


Bibliography

* *Ramsay, Winston, ed. ''The Battle of Britain Then and Now Mk V''. London: Battle of Britain Prints International Ltd, 1989. . *Ringlstetter, Herbert (2005). ''Helmut Wick, An Illustrated Biography of the Luftwaffe Ace And Commander of Jagdgeschwader 2 During The Battle of Britain''. Atglen, PA: Schiffer Publishing. .
Remembering the Battle of Britain
*Robert Dixon, '607 Squadron: A Shade of Blue'. The History Press 2008. *Robert Dixon, 'A Gathering of Eagles' PublishBritannica 2004, {{DEFAULTSORT:List of Raf Aircrew in the Battle of Britain * RAF aircrew