Inspired by others on this forum, I decided to attend the service of rememberance at St Clement Danes, the RAF church, in central London; and afterwards the Act of Rememberance and wreath laying at the statue of Lord Dowding at the front of the church by the BoBHS.
Of the church service, for me the most memorable part was the parading of the RAF ensign through the church to be laid on the altar for the service, whilst the church organ played the RAF march past. Not forgetting the sounding of the ‘Last Post’ followed by a two minutes silence, and then the sounding of ‘Reveille’.
After the service, the small group of BoBHS members who attended the church service held our own Act of Rememberance by the statue of Lord Dowding. We were very honoured by the presence of Lady Dowding, the widow of Hugh Dowding’s son Derek, who fought with No 74 Squadron during the Battle of Britain.
Lady Dowding very kindly laid the society’s wreath at the foot of her father-in-law’s statue on behalf of the society. Afterwards, a short Act of Rememberance was held, including a two minutes silence.
As I said above, the number of society members attending was not large, but this was the first time that this had been done, so hopefully in future years the numbers will grow.
Geoff.
Photo 1 – Lady Dowding.
Photo 2 -Dean Sumner, treasurer of the BoBHS reads the Act of Rememberance.
Photo 7 – The party attending the Act of Rememberance – front row – Lady Dowding & Margaret Bird-Wilson (Widow of AVM ‘Birdie’ Bird-Wilson, one of ‘The Few’). Second row (LtoR) Ted McManus (CEO of the BoBHS), Caroline McManus, Dean Sumner, and yours truly. Not forgetting, behind the camera, Gerry Burke.
By: S/L Doug Tidy - 16th November 2004 at 12:45
Remembrance Service pics
I concur with Allan, Geoff. A great effort on your part and I hope more will attend next year. Alas, distance and physical state prevented my attendance.
Hopefully next year…Skalky’s passing on Nov 12 underlines the fact that we are slipping away. Doug
By: allan125 - 15th November 2004 at 17:02
Nice photos Geoff – thanks for putting them on the board – also brings back fond memories of the area as I worked just around the corner at the junction of Arundel Street and Temple Place between 1962 and 1968 and visited St. Clement Danes quite a few times. I have the commemorative book from their filed away – being down here in deepest Cornwall I don’t get to visit London much these days!! – cheers – Allan 🙂
By: von Perthes - 15th November 2004 at 11:10
Maybe a project for the BoBHS after the monument?
Geoff
By: Dave Homewood - 15th November 2004 at 08:58
Well done Geoff.
I have been wondering for a while, is there a statue to remember Sir Keith Park ANYWHERE? I’ve never come across one.
There’s an awesome statue of General Sir Bernard Freyberg VC in Auckland and another in NZ of Charles Upham VC and Bar (at Waiouru I think from memory) which commemorate our most famous soldiers, but I’m unaware of one for our most notable airman. I’m only aware of the replica Hurricane in his colours at Sir Keith Park Memorial Airfield, at MOTAT 2, in Auckland.
If you begin a campaign for a statue of Park, you’ve got my support mate. If not in London, perhaps it should be at MOTAT, or Thames where he was born, or Wigram…
By: von Perthes - 15th November 2004 at 08:25
I hope so Ian. Of course next year there will be the monument too.
Perhaps there ought to be a staue of Sir Keith Park next to Dowding, or somewhere in London. Without him…
Geoff.
By: EN830 - 14th November 2004 at 18:45
Nice pictures Geoff, I’m sure the ceremony will grow in stature.
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November 14, 2004 at 6:11 pm