Battle of Britain remembered with Shrewsbury parade

Joined by dignitaries and townsfolk, yesterday's parade was held to remember "The Few" who fought the Nazis in the summer of 1940.

Those assembled included RAF personnel and cadets from Shawbury, as well as Army and Navy pilots and Royal Air Force Association (RAFA) members.

Shrewsbury is among a now-dwindling number of towns that still hold an annual parade, but the servicemen put on a proud display.

A planned Spitfire fly-past as part of the ceremony, however, had to be cancelled due to a technical issue with the vintage aircraft.

Miles Kenny, Deputy Major of Shrewsbury, was among those who attended. He said: "The parade was really very good, they really are amazingly smart.

"There was a church service and then they raised the RAF standard, the RAFA standard and the Air Cadets.

"There was a very good address from Father Mark Chadwick, who referred to September 14 and 15 when the Battle of Britain was on the decline - but how close it was and how grateful we should all be."

He said those assembled then paraded across to the gates of Shrewsbury's Quarry park, and the war memorial there.

Wreaths were laid by dignitaries including Mayor of Shrewsbury Beverley Baker, Daniel Kawczynski MP, Shawbury Station Commander Group Captain Alastair Smith, RAFA President Air Commodore John Burke, and High Sheriff of Shropshire Robert Bland.

"The parade was excellent, it was perfect except for the flypast," said Councillor Kenny.

"There was a long pause and people looked up but nothing happened, so they carried on."

He said the town should be proud to still be hosting such a parade, however.

"There are very few parts of the country that are still doing a parade for the Battle of Britain, so the fact that we are still doing it and the town council is involved is a really good thing," he said.

The Battle of Britain was the air campaign waged by the German Luftwaffe against the UK to try to get air superiority over the RAF.

The German forces first targeted shipping convoys and ports, then RAF airfields, infrastructure and aircraft factories, and finally areas of political importance - but they ultimately failed, compelling Hitler to cancel Operation Sea Lion, an amphibious and airborne invasion of Britain.

However, Germany continued bombing operations on Britain in what became known as The Blitz.

The term The Few comes from Winston Churchill's phrase "Never, in the field of human conflict, was so much owed by so many to so few."