CANADIAN AIR FORCES MEMORIAL TO BE UNVEILED BY HRH THE
DUKE OF GLOUCESTER ON 8 JULY
With only four-weeks to go until the Canadian Air Forces Memorial
is unveiled at the National Memorial Arboretum in Alrewas, Staffordshire,
the final preparations for the ceremony at 2pm on 8th July are being
finalised and recent significant donations from Canada have helped
fundraising to progress.
RAF Stations Leeming and Linton on Ouse, once home to Canadian
Airmen during the Second World War, have set up a fundraising project
to create a lasting national memorial all Canadian Airmen and Women
who fought with the allies during the Second World War, but also
to remember and honour every Canadian Airman.
The memorial – a monolith with granite information panels in English
and French, topped by a stone maple leaf – will be located at the
National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire, the UK’s year-round
centre of remembrance.
An RAF led fundraising effort is now underway, and organisations
in both Canada and UK have been asked if they would like to be involved
in an attempt to raise the necessary funds with the aim of completing
the work by summer 2011. Michael Oliver, Chairman of OLIVER VALVES
– a Knutsford-based manufacturer that builds valves used by the
world’s biggest energy firms has generously agreed to personally
underwrite the project.
Flight Lieutenant Alfie Hall of RAF Leeming – a Royal Air Force
station in North Yorkshire which opened during the Second World
War, said: “The Royal Canadian Air Force contributed more than 130,000
aircrew to the war effort– the fourth largest allied air force and
more than 10,000 lost their lives.
“The Arboretum already contains memorials to the Royal Australian
Air Force and the Norwegian Navy, but a monument to the Canadian
airmen is conspicuous by its absence.
“Fundraising for projects like these can be a long-drawn-out process,
but the generous offer we have received from Michael Oliver will
allow us to quickly rectify the absence of a fitting memorial.”
Michael Oliver said: “It is very important that we remember the
people who fought alongside Great Britain during the Second World
War and a memorial to the Canadian Royal Air Force at the Arboretum
is long overdue.”
Airmen from RAF Leeming and RAF Linton-on-Ouse have started their
rehearsals for the ceremony at 2pm on Friday 8 July 2011, and the
RAF’s Battle of Britain Memorial Flight will be providing a Spitfire
fly-past to mark the celebration. Musical support for the ceremony
will be provided by the Band of the RAF College and the RAF’s volunteer
choral society ‘The Spitfires’.
Donations have come in large and small from both sides of the Atlantic,
with one Canadian Province providing a substantial donation. Members
of 426 ‘Thunderbird’ Squadron Canadian Air Force visited RAF Linton-on-Ouse
this week, and will be visiting sites of historical interest around
North Yorkshire. The 426 Sqn Association has rallied to support
the project and have also made a very significant donation to the
fund.
Flight Lieutenant Hall said: “The generosity of people supporting
this project has been amazing; not only veterans and associations,
but groups and members of the public who have no connection with
the RAF or RCAF from the UK and Canada. The donations from the Province
of Saskatchewan and the 426 Squadron association have benefitted
our project greatly, but we just need a little more to meet our
target.”
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