September 13 saw a solemn crowd at Thames’ Sir Keith Park Memorial Airfield for the annual Battle of Britain commemorations.
This year’s theme was remembering “The Few” – those roughly 140 New Zealand airmen who defended the skies above Britain against Nazi Germany for four months in 1940.
Fundraising continues for the erection of three black granite tablets under the airfield’s replica Hurricane aircraft, which will bear the names of The Few.
“The Battle of Britain is far more than a chapter in history – it is part of our story,” guest speaker, Royal New Zealand Airforce (RNZAF) wing commander Bradley Scott, said.
“We remember the words of Winston Churchill: ‘Never in the field of human conflict has so much been owed by so many to so few’.”
“I think it’s important that [the tablets] be associated with Sir Keith Park, because many of these pilots would have flown under his command,” Sir Keith Park Memorial Airfield society president Geoff Furkert added.
Also among the guest speakers was the Polish Consul, the Honorable Boguslaw Nowak, who spoke about the battle’s particular significance to Poland.
“We in New Zealand, in Poland, in Australia, in Great Britain, have a future because we remember heroes of World War II,” he said.
“Today’s world is not safe… all democratic and civilised countries must be ready to defend values they stand for.”
Other dignitaries in attendance included the UK defence advisor to New Zealand, Royal Navy commander Michael Proudman; RNZAF squadron leader Matthew Jackson; RNZAF flight lieutenant Wesley Wright-St Clair; Coromandel MP Scott Simpson; Thames-Coromandel Mayor Peter Revell; and Hauraki Mayor Toby Adams.
The end of the ceremony was marked by a flyover of four RNZAF T-6C Texan II aircraft from Number 14 Squadron.
