The Battle of Britain Memorial

The Battle of Britain Memorial Trust is the charity charged with caring for the National Memorial to the Few at Capel-le-Ferne in Kent. In early 2017 it became a CIO and also now incorporates the Battle of Britain Fighter Association, the body only those who served in the Battle of Britain are entitled to join.

The Trust works to preserve the memory of those who Churchill named as the “Few” and who protected this country from invasion in the summer and early autumn of 1940.

In March 2015, after a successful fund-raising campaign, the Trust unveiled The Wing, a state-of-the-art visitor and education centre which includes the impressive Scramble Experience. This exciting new addition to the features on offer at the Memorial was opened by Her Majesty The Queen, accompanied by His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh.

The Wing, which includes the Geoffrey Page Centre, increasingly recognised as the venue for regular talks and events, is dedicated to the bravery and sacrifice of those who took part in the Battle of Britain. While The Wing is a fantastic addition to the facilities, it puts more pressure on our supporters, since the Trust now has to find around £240,000 a years to meet the running costs of the whole site. Please help if you can!

Services

The Wing is the Battle of Britain Memorial Trust’s visitor centre at the Capel-le-Ferne site of the National Memorial to the Few and includes The Scramble Experience. The eye-catching building was designed by Folkestone architectural practice Godden Allen Lawn in the shape of a Spitfire wing, complete with its famous uplift.

The Wing houses The Scramble Experience, a hands-on attraction that uses audio-visual effects, a video wall and other special techniques to show something of what it was like for the Few in the summer and early autumn of 1940.

The other half of the Wing includes a classroom area to fulfill the Trust’s aim to educate youngsters, in particular, about the heroism and sacrifice made those who took to the skies above the White Cliffs of Dover in the Battle of Britain. It is called the Geoffrey Page Centre in honour of the man who inspired the building of the Memorial.

A central ‘cockpit’ cafe on the first floor with an open balcony offers superb views across the Channel to France, from where the Luftwaffe would have appeared in 1940.

Business facilities

How would you like to hold your next meeting in a modern, well-lit air-conditioned room with a Hurricane parked just outside the venue? Or perhaps you would like a view of the French coast with your mid-morning coffee?

Here at the Battle of Britain Memorial we have great facilities with everything you need for a board meeting, away day, sales conference or presentation.

When it comes to CSR, supporting such a worthwhile charity as the Battle of Britain Memorial Trust speaks for itself, and the peaceful surroundings of this clifftop site make it an ideal place for ‘blue sky’ thinking.

The easily accessible site at Capel-le-Ferne (at the bottom end of the M20) offers a choice of venues. As well as the Geoffrey Page Centre in The Wing, the site is home to a library and resource centre in Hunting Lodge which can also be used for meetings.

Alternatively, why not hire The Wing for the evening and invite your corporate guests to experience this unique and inspirational venue? It’s a great place for a reception, a product launch or just a chance to meet and greet clients old and new (and impress them with your choice of venue).

Both the Geoffrey Page Centre and Hunting Lodge provide airy, modern meeting venues, and our highly competitive hire charges directly support the work of the charity, which receives no public funding.

The Geoffrey Page Centre is suitable for 32 people seated at round tables or 54 cinema style, while Hunting Lodge can accommodate 16 in a boardroom setting or 32 as a classroom.

Audio-visual equipment is available in the Geoffrey Page Centre and similar facilities can be provided in Hunting Lodge, and we have plenty of car parking space. We can provide light refreshments, either in the meeting rooms or from the Cockpit Cafe, which has amazing views across the Channel to France, or we can put you in touch with caterers if you need something more substantial.

Outside features

The central statue was carved by Harry Gray of the Carving Workshop in Cambridge.

He later revealed that after being asked by the Battle of Britain Memorial Trust to create the focal point of the site, he settled on the idea of a pilot but found it difficult to come up with a design he was happy with.

Then one day, during a break, Harry’s trainee sat down and adopted a contemplative pose that provided the sculptor with the inspiration that had previously eluded him.

That lunchtime pose was the blueprint for the statue of the seated airman looking out to sea that is striking in its simplicity and yet so moving in its context.

The figure wears an Irvin jacket for a very important reason; by hiding the airman’s uniform it disguises both his nationality and his rank. Is this a British officer with half a dozen kills to his name or an NCO gunner from another country? Both played their part and the Memorial reflects that fact. It is for that same reason that the Christopher Foxley-Norris Memorial Wall reveals neither rank nor decoration.

That central figure sits on a propeller boss surrounded by the badges of all the Allied squadrons and other units that took part in the Battle. The blades of the propeller are set into the ground, making the memorial as striking from the air as it is for the visitor on the ground.

At the left hand end of the Christopher Foxley-Norris Memorial Wall is a brick plinth inset with an inscribed poem by veteran William Walker AE, who sadly died in October 2012 at the age of 99.

The poem, Our Wall refers to the adjacent wall that list the names of those who flew in the Battle of Britain, and it has long been a favourite of the Battle of Britain Memorial Trust for that reason.

It was Our Wall, together with William’s other often-recited Absent Friends, that inspired the Trust to create an anthology of William’s poetry, much of which is about his wartime experiences.

William has shared the copyright of the work with the Trust and the proceeds from the sale of the book, available in both hard and softback versions, are all being donated to the Wing appeal. it is available to buy from the Trust, both by post and at the National Memorial to the Few at Capel-le-Ferne.

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