The Few

The Mark 1 Spitfire replica outside the Cabinet War Rooms, St. James Park, Westminster

It was on 20th August 1940 when Winston Churchill, the famous British war-time leader made his famous speech in Parliament to praise the RAF aircrews in defending Britain from Germany’s Luftwaffe.



Under a slate grey sky, the words of Winston Churchill rang defiantly around Westminster: 'Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.' It may be 70 years old, but the resounding call to arms during the Battle of Britain still stiffened the sinew bringing pride and not a few tears last Friday 20th August 2010. To mark the anniversary, the speech was replayed outside Churchill's war-time bunker in Whitehall, at 1552 BST - precisely 70 years since Churchill stood up to give the address in Parliament. It was followed shortly afterwards by a Spitfire and Hurricane fly-past over Whitehall.


Sir Winston Churchill

Former fighter pilots, Churchill's daughter Lady Soames and Dame Vera Lynn were among hundreds of people, many waving Union Flags, who crammed into the street outside the Churchill War Rooms in central London to mark the emotional occasion. Overhead, the world's oldest Spitfire and a Hurricane - the two fighter planes that saw off the German Luftwaffe - performed a fly-past.






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For the veterans, the day brought back vivid memories of the battle which lasted from July 10 1940 to October 31 that year. Their appearance marked the RAF’s heroic victory against larger Luftwaffe forces over the skies of southern England between July and the end of October 1940, involving 71 Fighter Command squadrons and allies from Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Canada and across Europe. Some of the bravest pilots were the Pole and Czech flyers who had fled the German onslaught on their countries and were the most battle hardened pilots who enlisted with the RAF. In one of the most shameful episodes of WW11 Poles were excluded from the London Victory Parade of 1946 even though over 200,000 of them had fought in the Allied forces, particularly Britain’s which had declared war on Germany in 1939 when it invaded Poland.



Churchill’s old war rooms are around the corner from the office in St. James Park and Robert Hardy’s reading of his speech was in front of a replica Mark 1 Spitfire which will be there as part of the 70th anniversary of the Battle of Britain Commemorations.

To see more about St. James Park see;

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2009/04/st-jamess-park-london.html

As David Cameron wants people to holiday in Britain he could do worse than walk 2 minutes from 10 Downing Street and ask the War Rooms how they justify the truly disgraceful £14.75 adult admission charge. He could then walk onto Westminster Abbey and ask them how they justify the audacious £15.00 admission charge to visit a Church? Or he could take an open bus tour around London and ask them how they justify the rip-off £24.00 fare? He could get off the Bus Tour at Baker Street and be amazed a how they have the brass neck to charge £28.00 admission? Maybe we need the ghost of Sir Winston to come back and summarise the state of London Tourism – “Never have so many been ripped off by so few!”

To spend a rip off free Day in London see;

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2007/09/day-in-london.html


WINSTON CHURCHILL'S SPEECH



The Battle of Britain took place between August and September 1940. After the success of Blitzkrieg, the evacuation of Dunkirk and the surrender of France, Britain was by herself. The Battle of Britain remains one of the most famous battles of World War Two. The Germans needed to control the English Channel to launch her invasion of Britain (which the Germans code-named Operation Sealion). They needed this control of the Channel so that the British Navy would not be able to attack her invasion barges which were scheduled to land on the Kent and Sussex beaches.



To control the Channel the Germans needed control of the air. This meant that they had to take on Fighter Command, led by Sir Hugh Dowding, of the Royal Air Force. The main fighter planes of the RAF were the Spitfire and the Hurricane. The Germans relied primarily on their Messcherschmitt fighters and their Junkers dive bombers - the famed Stukas.