The 82nd anniversary of the Battle of Britain was commemorated around New Zealand. Photo / Dean Purcell
The 82nd anniversary of the Battle of Britain was commemorated around New Zealand. Photo / Dean Purcell
Hundreds of air cadets and serving members of the Royal New Zealand Air Force gathered to remember the brave men and women who fought and gave their lives 82 years ago in the Battle of Britain.
57 of the 135 New Zealanders who fought in the Battle of Britain gave their lives. Photo / Dean Purcell
"Never was so much owed by so many to so few," then-UK Prime Minister Winston Churchill said at the time.
57 of the 135 New Zealanders who fought in the battle died while defending Britain, then the last major power opposing Nazi Germany, from a prolonged aerial attack by Adolf Hitler's Luftwaffe.
It is largely considered to be the first major military battle entirely fought by air forces.
Today, RNZAF cadets marched past the cenotaph at the Auckland War Memorial Museum under a flyover by vintage planes from the New Zealand Warbirds Association based at Ardmore, which was reflected in other ceremonies around the country.
New Zealand Warbirds Association aircraft flying by during the Battle of Britain commemoration in Auckland. Photo / Dean Pucell
The battle, one of the pivotal engagements of World War II, is remembered on September 15 every year, which has come to be known as Battle of Britain Day.
It marks the date in 1940 when Hitler ordered the Luftwaffe's largest attack, involving some 1500 aircraft, against London in the hope of destroying the bulk of the Royal Air Force (RAF) in a decisive day.
Cadets attended the Auckland commemoration, reflected in other events around the country. Photo / Dean Purcell
The Luftwaffe were already three months into a campaign, which ultimately failed, that attempted to wipe out the RAF by destroying their bases and radar stations in southern England ahead of a sea-borne invasion of Britain, code-named Operation Sea Lion, by German forces.
Cadets marching past the Cenotaph at Te Paenga Hira Auckland War Memorial Museum. Photo / Dean Purcell
Frustrated by their lack of success, Hitler switched his focus to bombing London and other major cities at night to disrupt manufacturing and destroy morale among the general populace.
It became known as The Blitz, and killed tens of thousands of civilians.
Cadets marching at Auckland's Domain. Photo / Dean Purcell
The allied victory in the skies above Britain, which came after several crushing defeats in France and the evacuation from Dunkirk, became a rallying point for the UK war effort to eventually defeat the Nazis - following the entry of the Soviet Union and USA into the conflict - in 1945.
Hundreds of cadets and serving RNZAF personnel attended the service at Auckland's Domain. Photo / Dean Purcell
