A Royal Gala performance is to be staged later this year in order to raise thousands of pounds of funds to pay for the upkeep of the Battle of Britain memorial on the top of the cliffs at Capel le Ferne.
It will take place at the London Palladium on September 7 – 68 years to the day after the Luftwaffe launched its first mass attack on the capital of Britain.
Funds will go towards the commemoration area – the scenes of memorial services, tributes and open to the public for free - which features the sculpture of a pilot gazing out to sea, a replica Hurricane and Spitfire, squadron crests and the names of those pilots who fought in the battle which saw Hitler’s bombers beaten back and the threat of invasion of these shores lifted.
The show will be entitled Flying with the Stars – 1940 Remembering The Few.
Performers have yet to be announced but a glittering array of talent is promised and royal guests are set to be in attendance along with senior officers currently serving with the RAF and veteran forces personnel.
Prince Michael of Kent – patron of the Battle of Britain Memorial Trust which is organising the show – has confirmed he will be among the audience.
It is expected the star names will be announced throughout the summer as acts confirm their availability.
The idea is to pay tribute to the men who flew in action and the men and women who supported them on the ground.
Air Chief Marshal Sir Michael Graydon, president of the trust, said: “At the National Memorial we remember the heroism of many different men and women at one of the most significant moments in British History.
“We hope that people who recall those days, as those from younger generations, will join us at the Palladium, one of the most famous London theatres, to pay tribute, but also to enjoy a great evening of entertainment.”
The memorial itself – on the road between Folkestone and Dover - was opened by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother in July 1993.
It was the brainchild of Geoffrey Page a 20-year-old Hurricane pilot who was shot down and terribly burned in the Battle of Britain. He spent two years in hospital and became a founder member of the Guinea Pig Club.
But he that he returned to active service, became a wing leader, won the DSO and DFC and was badly injured again.
Years later, the former flyer realised to his astonishment that there was no memorial to his comrades in Fighter Command in 1940.
He determined to put right that omission and the National Memorial at Capel was the result.
On July 9 1993, Her Majesty the Queen Mother opened the Memorial and Geoffrey’s dream was realised.
He died in August 2000, shortly after attending the Memorial Day marking the 60th anniversary of the Battle.
POSTED: 19/02/2008 18:30:00
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