BATTLE OF BRITAIN

Greymouth Evening Star, 27 September 1943, Page 6

BATTLE OF BRITAIN

ANNIVERSARY THANKSGIVING "RUGBY, Sept. 26. To-day the Battle of Britain anniversary has been observed as a day of prayer and celebration throughout Britain. The King and Queen were present at the morning service at St. Paul’s Cathedral. Seated immediately behind Their Majesties, at the east end of the nave beneath the great dome, were members of the War Cabinet and Government, members of the diplomatic corps, representatives of all armed forces of the United Nations, including veterans of the Battle of Britain, members of the A.A. Command, Royal Observers Corps, Civil Defence Services, National Fire Service, Police Force, Naval and Military Bomb Disposal Services, workers for the Ministry of Aircraft Production and representatives of the gas, water, electricity and transport services, including holders of the George Cross and other decorations Avon by gallantry during the air attacks. Their Majesties were accompanied by Princess Marie Louise and Princess Helena Victoria, and were received at the foot of the steps of the west door of the Cathedral by the Lord Mayor of London (Sir Samuel N. Joseph). The King was wearing the uniform of an Air Marshal. During the service there was prayer and thanksgiving “for the courage of all who guarded this land from the peril of invasion, for the endurance and skill of the men of the R.A.F.. and all men and women who were at their several posts of defence, for devotion to duty of those who laboured in factories and workshops, or who administered to Ihe injured and homeless.” Londoners were given the opportunity to express appreciation of the winners of the Battle of Britain when airmen, ground crews, A.A. mmners. and men and women who made the aircraft, passed in procession from Wellington Barracks along Birdcage Walk, Whitehall, and the Mall. Officers and men of the Fighter Command, all of whom were engaged in the battle, came last in the procession. They were led by pilots, with many kills to their credit. . The R.A.F. in Malta also joined m commemoration to-day of the Battle of Britain, with an open air service, on what used to be the most bombed airfield in the world.

I\TC>ke AiRCdAr’T NkeDeD. RUGBY, September 2(1. Fir SiaiTc-rd Cripps, speaking at Newcastle, declared victory _ now seemed certain, and added; . “It is rirfiv the time and die cost of human life that is still in doubt. How long i.bi.i.t tiiiic will be and how great the casualties are must now depend largely upon the efforts of those on th-e’ 1 industrial front in .Britain and America. Sustained and . increasing effort mav bring us earlier victory with all that means in saving human lives.”

Pointing to the enormous expansion of aircraft production and the production of all those multifarious devices which assisted the fighter and bomber, Sir S, Cripps said: “If the figure for the firsl’six months of 1940 for the structure and weight of aircraft produced is taken at 100, then the corresponding figures for 1941, 1.942. 1942 —in each case the first six month—are 161, 244, 364. This shows how great is our production now compared with those six months , of 1941 or 1940, when we were making planes which fought the Battle of Britain. But this is not .in itself enough. Wo still need more and more aircraft to make good the heavy losses in the offensive fighting today, and prepare for that even greater offensive which must come before the end is reached.”