Honouring the few who served so many

A CRYSTAL-CLEAR spring sky provided the perfect backdrop for a Royal Australian Air Force fly-past to commemorate the 79th anniversary of the Battle of Britain yesterday.

Hobart aviation enthusiasts gazed in awe at the diverse display, which included two Hawk 127 lead-in fighter jets, a P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft and a Harvard warbird.

Air Force Chief, Air Marshal Mel Hupfeld, delivered a speech in front of several hundred people at the Hobart Cenotaph, including Tasmanian Governor Kate Warner.

He said the service provided an opportunity for RAAF members and the public to recognise the 33 Australian airmen who defended Britain against largescale attacks by Nazi Germany’s air force, the Luftwaffe, making invasion all but impossible.

“The Battle of Britain was the world’s first major military campaign fought entirely in the air, and by an air force barely older than the brave young men who defended Britain against invasion,” Air Marshal Hupfeld said.

“It was so important to the defence of Britain that it inspired the British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, to say those immortal words to the British parliament — ‘Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few’.”

“Those few included a small number of Australian pilots, who joined airmen from across the Commonwealth to defend the same values that we in Air Force still defend today.”

September 15 is remembered as the climax of the decisive battle. Retired Air Vice-Marshal Peter Scully said the RAAF Association in Tasmania had been recognising the importance of the Battle of Britain by holding commemorations for the past 40 years.