Spitfire’s roar stirs veterans’ emotions at battle celebrations

The fighter planes that played a key role in the most pivotal conflict in recent British history led the celebrations marking the 70th anniversary of the Battle of Britain.

A Spitfire and a Hurricane flew high above Westminster Abbey to commemorate the battle, one of the turning points of the World War II.

Fighter pilot veterans, senior politicians, film stars and royalty crammed into the abbey to give thanks for the efforts of the brave few who took to the skies to take on the Nazi threat.

Prince William, fresh from graduating as a Search and Rescue Force helicopter pilot, attended the service with his father, the Prince of Wales, and the Duchess of Cornwall.

Some 544 personnel from Fighter Command died in the bitter air battle that raged throughout the summer of 1940.

Chaplain–in–Chief Raymond Pentland told the congregation: “Seventy years ago our nation stood on the brink of invasion.

“Churchill declared: ‘I expect the Battle of Britain is about to begin, upon this battle depends the survival of Christian civilisation.’”

He added: “This turning point in our nation’s history is indeed the story of victory and of salvation.”

He said the Battle of Britain was the story of the Spitfire, of military commander Lord Dowding’s planning and Sir Winston Churchill’s leadership.

He added: “It is the story of victory against all odds, it is the story of the few and the debt we owe.”

Veterans made their way in procession through the central aisle of the Abbey for the Act of Remembrance which formed the centre point of the service.

Throughout the ceremony grainy black and white images of the dogfights from the battle were projected onto monitors set up around the building.

The appearance of the 70 –year–old aircraft for the fly past led to cheering and applause from a large crowd assembled outside the abbey.

The Battle of Britain began as Hitler turned his attention across the Channel after defeating the French.

The Germans launched air attacks in the early summer of 1940 designed to seize control of the skies over England in preparation for invasion.

High above the pastoral landscapes of Kent and Sussex, Britain’s future was placed in the hands of a small band of young fighter pilots.

Day after day, the Germans sent bombers and fighters over England, with RAF pilots outnumbered in the air by four to one.

The RAF scrambled their Spitfire and Hurricane aircraft into the sky to do battle, often three, four or five times a day. Britain’s air defence bent, but did not break.

Nearly 3,000 air crew served with Fighter Command during the course of the battle, including 600 from the British Dominions and occupied European or neutral countries.

Shortly after the battle, Hitler cancelled his invasion plans and turned his attention to defeating the Soviet Union.

In appreciation of the RAF pilots’ heroic effort, then prime minister Winston Churchill famously said: “Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.”

Flight Lieutenant William Walker, 97, from Earls Court, London, was shot down during one of the many skirmishes.

He chatted to Prince Charles following today’s service, explaining how he only received five hours training in a Spitfire before taking to the air to fight the Luftwaffe.

Sir Stephen Dalton, Chief of Air Staff, said winning the Battle of Britain was vital to the overall outcome of the war.

He said: “The importance of today is of course to recognise the veterans who are still here and all those who gave their lives to ensure that the Battle of Britain was won and the freedom of this country was assured.

“Unless we had control of the skies over Britain we could not build up the forces ready to liberate Europe later on.”