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Aviation History
1953
1953 - 1397.PDF
23 October 1953 551 (Above) The memorial with tie seating ready for the ceremony. The Stone of Remembrance is in the centre of the cioister. (Left) The Queen is shown the reveals and ceilings by the architect, Mr. Edwcrd Maufe, R.A. spread across the earth the conviction that man should be free and not enslaved. "And when the life of this belief was threatened by the iron hand of tyranny their successors came forward without hesita tion to fight, and, if it was demanded of them, to die, for its salvation. As only free men can, they knew the value of that for which they fought, and that the price was worth paying. "They were not alone in this knowledge and this sacrifice. At this very hour a memorial porch is being unveiled in Chelms ford Cathedral to commemorate some of those American air men who fought together with us against the same aggression. "With prophetic insight Pope wrote of this hill on which we now stand: — On Coopers Hill eternal wreaths shall grow, While lasts the mountain, or while the Thames shall flow." Her Majesty then pressed a button, causing the curtains to be drawn from the face of the doors while trumpeters of the R.A.F. sounded the Last Post. As the poignant final note of the familiar call died away the voice of the Archbishop of Canterbury could be heard in dedication ". . . we dedicate this memorial, in memory of those of the Commonwealth Air Forces who went out from these shores not to return and whose bodies rest unknown in foreign lands or in the great deep. In the name of the Father ..." . Then came the Reveille, and the R.A.F.A. standards which had been lowered in salute were raised again; and over the whole impressive scene there spread a gentle glow of autumnal sunshine, to remain while Isaac Watts' lovely hymn O God, our help in ages past was sung. At the conclusion of the hymn came the Blessing and the General Salute, after which the Queen laid a wreath of orchids and pink carnations and roses. Wreaths were then placed by the Duke of Edinburgh, the Duke of Gloucester and those in attendance on the roval party; the R.A.F. wreath was laid by Air Chief Marshal Sir William F. Dickson. The singing of the National Anthem brought the Service of Dedication to a close. Descending again from the dais, the Queen unlocked the entrance gates with a special key designed by the architect and made from wrought palladium-ruthenium alloy with the royal cipher inlaid in gold. . Having passed into the building, Her Majesty was shown the Stone of Remembrance, guarded by four airmen, in the centre of the cloister; the 20,455 names carved on the reveals by the slit windows; the badges, on the ceilings, of the Commonwealth Nations; and the great north window of the shrine, which over looks the historic Runnymede meadows. So steeply does the ground fall away that the vista appears as if seen from an aircraft. , , , , This window, designed by John Hutton, bears the words of the 139th psalm and on each side of the scroll on which the words appear are supporting angels. Above the angels' wings are en graved designs of vapour trails taken from photographs obtained during the Battle of Britain. Above all is the ceiling, also designed by John Hutton, showing a semi-circle of the sky with the two constellations which have always guided mariners and airmen—the Southern Cross with the South Polar Star, and the Plough or Great Bear with the North Polar Star. So exquisitely has the glass engraving been done that the words, with the angels, appear to float free in space above the Runnymede landscape. At the completion of her tour of inspection through the memorial and before leaving the Queen and the Queen Mother spent over half-an-hour walking among the people, pausing here and there to speak to relatives. When the Queen had left, a long queue formed to pass through the memorial and to lay their tributes on the greensward of the cloister. As darkness fell the memorial was floodlit and the pilgrimage continued until midnight. J.Y. A NOTE ON THE MEMORIAL IN the achievement of victory in the 1939-45 war, more than 116,000 men and women of the British Commonwealth air forces gave their lives and of these the 20,455 who have no known grave are commemorated on the Runnvmeae Memorial. The total is made up as follows: R.A.F. 15,308, W.A.A.F. 10, Newfoundland 26, R.C.A.F. 3,072, R.A.A.F. 1,403, R.N.Z.A.F. 583, S.A.A.F. 16, R.I.A.F. 7, A.T.C. 4, Air Transport Auxiliary 10, B.O.A.C, 7 and Ferry Command 9. After the war, the Air Council in conjunction with the Imperial War Graves Commission decided that in the United Kingdom there should be one memorial to these airmen and women, to include those serving from bases in Britain, Iceland, Faroe Islands, Northern Ireland, the Azores, France, Holland, Belgium, Germany, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Luxembourg, Czechoslavakia and Russia. In 1949, the land on which the memorial has been built was given for that purpose by Sir Eugen and Lady Effie Millington-Drake. The entrance doors, of nickel silver, are the gift of the Mond Nickel Company. In addition to those whose names appear on the Runnymede Memorial other airmen and women who have no known grave will be commemorated at Malta (for those who served in the Western Medi terranean and Southern Europe), El Alemein (North Africa and Middle East), Singapore (Far East), Ottawa (North America) and in certain cemeteries in Australia, Indonesia, New Guinea and the South-West Pacific. The Fleet Air Arm memorial is at Lee-on-Solent. • American Memorial Dedicated THE American memorial to which the Queen referred in her address at Runnymede is in the South Porch of Chelmsford Cathedral and takes the form of new stained glass windows, an inner and a stone floor. Responsible for the scheme are the English-Speaking Union and the Essex Anglo-American Goodwill Association, which is now merged with the Union. During last Saturday's service, Field Marshal Lord Mont gomery and Major-General F. H. Griswold, commander of the Third United States Air Force in Britain, unveiled the stained- glass windows and the Bishop of Chelmsford dedicated the renovated porch. At the close of the service a large contingent of the U.S.A.F., the R.A.F. and British nursing services marched to the Shire Hall, where the salute was taken by Col. Sir Francis Whitmore, Lord Lieutenant of Essex. Lord Montgomery, speaking afterwards in the Shire Hall, said: "I do not think that there will be another war in the foreseeable future. There are only two dangers—complacency and political infirmity of purpose among the nations of the free world."
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