The 20,000 Royal Air Forcecasualties of the Second WorldWar lost in operations frombases in the United Kingdom andNorth and Western Europe withno known grave arecommemorated at the AirForces Memorial in Runnymede,Surrey. The memorial, which wasdesigned and is cared for by theCommonwealth War GravesCommission, is open to thepublic every day of the yearother than Christmas Day andNew Year’s Day.

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission(CWGC) is responsible for the commemorationof almost 1,700,000 members of theCommonwealth forces who gave their lives in thetwo world wars. The graves and memorials ofthese men and women, who came from all partsof the Commonwealth and who were of manyfaiths and of none, are found around the globe in153 countries.

Enquiries on the location of individual burials orcommemorations can be directed to the officesbelow or to the Commission’s website atwww.cwgc.org where there is an online searchabledatabase.

Commonwealth War Graves Commission 2 Marlow RoadMaidenheadBerkshire, SL6 7DXUnited KingdomTel: +44 (0)1628 634221Fax: +44 (0)1628 771208E-mail: enquiries@cwgc.orgWebsite: www.cwgc.org

A Guide To The A

ir Forces Mem

orial At Runnym

ede, Surrey, United Kingdom

War in the air

The Royal Air Force saw some of the earliestaction of the Second World War when on 4September 1939, the day after war wasdeclared, Blenheim and Wellington bombersattacked German shipping near Brunsbütteland Wilhelmshaven. In those raids sevenaircraft were lost and twenty-five airmen killed,the first casualties in what would become aworldwide struggle to gain mastery in the airupon which victory depended.

The struggle for control lasted through thewar, costing the lives of more than 116,000

men and women of the Air Forces of theCommonwealth. It was a war that sawperiods of desperate crisis and drama,attrition and routine. Throughout, theBomber, Fighter, Coastal, Transport, FlyingTraining and Maintenance Commandsfulfilled crucial supporting roles to the landcampaigns and at sea. During the long yearswhen Britain stood isolated and vulnerableon the edge of a Europe largely underGerman occupation, they stood both as thefirst line of defence and the means ofstriking back.

T H E I R N A M E L I V E T H F O R E V E R M O R E

The Air Forces Memorial

The site of the RunnymedeMemorial overlooks the Thames andthe riverside meadow where MagnaCarta, enshrining man's basicfreedoms under law, was sealed byKing John in 1215. The land uponwhich it stands was donated by SirEugen and Lady EffieMillington-Drake in 1949.

The memorial was designed by SirEdward Maufe, the Commission'sprincipal architect for the UnitedKingdom after the Second WorldWar, and consists of a shrineembraced by a cloister in which thenames of the dead are recorded. Thecasualties, grouped according to theyear of death, are inscribed on thestone panels, giving the impressionof partly opened stone books. Thecoats of arms of the Commonwealthcountries are represented on thecloister ceilings.

The cloisters have curved wingsterminating in two lookouts.Through the entrance is a courtyardcontaining a Stone of Remembrance,and opposite, a shrine – the designof which is similar to the control

towers crews would have seen when returningto base. The shrine is adorned with three stonefigures by Vernon Hill representing Justice,Victory and Courage.

Engraved on the great north window of theshrine are words from the 139th Psalm,sometimes called the Airman's Psalm:

Above the angels flanking the text are engravedvapour trails taken from actual photographs ofthe sky during the Battle of Britain. The design isby John Hutton, also responsible for the paintedceilings of the shrine and lookouts which depictthe four winds, the planets and the phases of themoon scattered with stars.

From the shrine two staircases lead to a gallery,on a window of which is engraved a poemwritten soon after the memorial was completedby a student, Paul H Scott. From the gallery, afurther staircase leads to the roof of the towerwhich is surmounted by an Astral Crown of blueand gold.

The Runnymede Memorial was opened by HerMajesty Queen Elizabeth II on 17 October 1953and the text of her dedicatory address, some ofwhich is reproduced here, is displayed inside theentrance. Her Majesty returned to mark thememorial's fifty years as a place ofcommemoration and remembrance on 17October 2003.

T H E I R N A M E L I V E T H F O R E V E R M O R E

Runnymede Air Forces Memorial

Runnymede Air Forces Memorial under construction

Aerial Drawing of Runnymede Air Forces Memorial

If I climb up into Heaven, Thou art there;

If I go to Hell, Thou art there also.

If I take the wings of the morning

And remain in the uttermost parts of the

sea, Even there also shall Thy hand lead

me; And Thy right hand shall hold me.

"...wherever and for as long as freedom

flourishes on the earth, the men and

women who possess it will thank them

and will say they did not die in vain."

Global commemoration

Many aircrew who died were lost withouttrace and their graves are unknown. Themissing thousands are remembered atRunnymede and on memorials around theworld, from Egypt to Singapore and fromCanada to Malta.

Most of these casualties served in the ranks of the Royal Air Force but as the warprogressed, Britain welcomed airmen andwomen from all the Commonwealth's AirForces and from other countries too.Americans volunteered for service with theRAF before the USA entered the war andfought alongside those whose homelands inEurope had been overrun.

Some of those who died were killed in servicewith vital transport, training and maintenanceunits, others as agents in special operations inoccupied Europe. However, most were lostwhile serving with the operational commandsof the Royal Air Force in the long air war overnorth-western Europe.