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How does the RAF Association (RAFA) commemorate the Battle of Britain?

Each September the RAF Association hold national fund raising events to commemorate the Battle of Britain.
The RAF Association (RAFA) does not receive any direct Government funding and therefore relies on the generosity of the public and the continued support from our members, donors and the Branch network in generating funds to provide the level of welfare and care that is so rightly deserved by the RAF Family and their dependants in need.

There is a widely held perception that we only help airmen and airwomen who fought in World War II. Nothing could be further from the truth! As well as supporting the whole RAF Family, we are increasingly supporting those people who are serving, and have served, in more recent conflicts such as Korea, Borneo, the Falklands, the Gulf War, Northern Ireland, Bosnia, Kosovo and the latest conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. The demand on our resources continues to grow.

The nature of war has changed since World War II, but the nature of need has not. Please give as much as you can afford to enable the RAF Association to continue to support the men and women of the Royal Air Force, and their dependants, who have fought to secure the freedom we enjoy today.

The Battle of Britain

The Battle of Britain

What and when was the Battle of Britain?
The aerial conflict between British and German Air Forces in the skies over the south of England in the summer and autumn of 1940, and the heroic sacrifices made by the young men of Fighter Command who withstood the German onslaught, marked a decisive turning point in the Second World War and was one of the most important moments in Britain’s twentieth century history.
After the British Army's desperate evacuation from Dunkirk, Britain stood alone against the might of the German forces. In his speech to the nation on the 18 June 1940, Winston Churchill said:
"...The Battle of France is over - I expect that the Battle of Britain is about to begin. The whole fury and might of the enemy must very soon be upon us...Let us therefore, brace ourselves, that, if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will say 'This was their finest hour'."
If Germany planned to invade and occupy Great Britain, it was necessary for the Luftwaffe to destroy the Royal Air Force. The battle for the control of the skies took place between June and September 1940 during which time the RAF defended the nation.
Whilst Fighter Command was defending the British shores, Bomber Command was attacking the channel ports where the German fleet was assembling. Bombers also targeted French, Belgian, Dutch and Danish airfields, from where the enemy air forces were launching their attacks. It was during this period on 20 August when Winston Churchill uttered his immortal words:
"The Gratitude of every home on our Island, in our Empire an indeed throughout the World, except the abodes of the guilty, goes out to the British airmen, who, undaunted by odds, unwearied in their constant challenge and mortal danger, are turning the tide of World War by their prowess and devotion. Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few"
At the beginning of September Hitler, his pride wounded by a British bombing raid on Berlin, ordered a change of tactic. The Luftwaffe stopped attacking the British air bases and began a bombing campaign of London. This breathing space enabled the RAF to regroup.
The decisive day took place on 15th September 1940. The Germans undertook another massive assault which they thought would finally shatter British resistance and open the path for a successful invasion of Britain.

On 15 September, the Luftwaffe came by day in huge numbers. It expected to sweep the RAF from the skies, but the RAF fought them off. At one point every British plane was in the sky – soon, some would have to come in to refuel, and there were no reserves to protect them. But the Luftwaffe, too, was at its limit and, just in time, turned back.
Of those 2,927 young men of ‘The Few’, from this country and overseas, 1,441 were killed or wounded in their efforts to prevent the invasion of Britain. 15 September is celebrated in the United Kingdom as "Battle of Britain Day", marking the battle.