Battle of Britain service on again in alert level 1

The Battle of Britain commemorative window in St Peter's Church, Gonville. Photo / Supplied

Now that we are in alert level 1, the Battle of Britain Commemoration Service will be on Sunday, October 18, at St Peter's Church, Koromiko Rd in Gonville, starting at 2pm.

Planning has been under way for a while to commemorate the 80th anniversary, with Squadron Leader Roger Black from RNZAF Base Ohakea officiating and this year part of the Whanganui Community Choir is also participating. No 9 Squadron of the Air Training Corps will be involved with the carrying of the colours up the aisle at the start of the service, delivering readings and assisting with the laying of wreaths.

The pianist for the service is Kirsten Kjoss, with Cpl Mark Keelty on bugle and Dylan Coffin as piper.

Bookmarks have been made as memorabilia to mark this special occasion. Some of the artwork was provided by the RAF Museum (UK), with Marton Print producing four different designs.

The conflict we call the Battle of Britain took place over the skies of the UK between July 10 and October 31, 1940. The commemoration of the battle is held as close to September 15 as possible, that being the day when the tide turned in favour of the Allies.

After a series of Luftwaffe raids battered London, Air Vice-Marshal Keith Park ordered all his fighters into the air to defend the capital. When Churchill asked how many planes he had in reserve, Park replied, "There are none."

There were 300 British fighter planes in the air that day, destroying about 60 German planes.

It was that extended battle and the courage of those young men that stopped Hitler's grand plan to invade England — Operation Sea Lion.

The bombing of London continued but Germany never controlled the English Channel or managed to put their grand invasion plan into action.

The battle received its name from a speech Winston Churchill delivered to the British House of Commons on June 18, 1940, in which he stated, "The Battle of France is over. I expect the Battle of Britain is about to begin." France had capitulated the day before, surrendering to Germany.

RAF Spitfires, 1939. Photo / Getty Images

Of the more than 2900 RAF pilots who served in the Battle of Britain, about 2350 were British. The rest were from Commonwealth territories such as Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, as well as expatriates from Poland, Czechoslovakia, Belgium and other countries under Nazi occupation.

There were even a few American pilots, most notably Billy Fiske, a 29-year-old who had won a gold medal for bobsledding at the Winter Olympics. The Polish No 303 fighter squadron downed 126 German planes during the battle and the RAF's top-scoring ace was Josef Frantisek, a Czech aviator who single-handedly claimed 17 aerial victories.