On Sunday, September 4 the Falmouth Branch of the RAF Association will hold its annual Battle of Britain Parade at the Falmouth Parish Church of King Charles the Martyr, at 10:30 am. All are welcome.

This is a commemorative parade in remembrance of all those who took part in the battle, especially the young pilots, most of whom gave their lives to prevent the invasion of our Country

Over 2900 pilots were involved, 2350 from great Britain, ably assisted by pilots from The Commonwealth, with both Polish and Czech pilots being heavily involved, and included others from the USA and countries occupied by the Nazis. Their bravery is, of course, the stuff of legend.

One particular story which does stand the test of re-telling is that of Sgt. Pilot Ray Holmes, who having fought for quite a while ran out of bullets when he saw a German Dornier bomber heading directly towards Buckingham Palace. Sgt. Holmes dived straight at the bomber, and using one of his aircraft wings, took the tail plane off the bomber which then crashed well away from the Palace. Sgt. Holmes own aircraft was badly damaged, but he ejected safely to go on and fight another day.

Charlie Batten

Falmouth Branch RAFA