Plympton was well represented at the annual service of commemoration and thanksgiving at the RAF and Allied Air Forces Monument on Plymouth Hoe on the morning of Saturday June 30.
The yearly open air service heralds the start of Plymouth Armed Forces Day each year. As well as being supported by local civilian, civic and military personnel it is also attended by representatives of other countries to reflect the role of the Allied Air Forces in WW2.
South West Devon MP Gary Streeter laid a wreath on behalf of Plymouth’s parliamentarians, immediate past Stannator Andrew Hill laid a wreath on behalf of the Plympton Community Council and among many others laying wreaths during the service was Bob Goodman who laid one behalf of the Plympton branch of the Royal British Legion.
Plympton councillors Glenn Jordan and Terri Beer and Plympton Community Council chairman Rose Hamley were also among the several hundred people who turned out for the service.
This year’s service was presided over by Padre (Sqn Leader) Stephen Lamond RAF. Among those representing overseas nations at this year’s event were Ms Sandra Kelleners, General Consul to the Belgian Embassy, and Lieutenant Colonel Artur Miskiewicz, Defence Attache for the Republic of Poland.
TV celebrity Carol Vorderman MBE RAFAC also attended the service this year and laid a wreath. She did so in her capacity as ambassador and Honorary Group Captain of the RAF Air Cadets, a position she accepted in November 2014. During a lunch reception at the Crowne Plaza Hotel following the commemoration and thanksgiving service Gp Cpt Vorderman was presented with an RAF bear.
The RAF and Allied Air Forces Monument on the Hoe is the only one of its kind in the UK. The idea for the monument was the brainchild of ex RAF Warrant Officer Henry James (Jim) Davis, who served as a rear gunner with 90 squadron of Bomber command and the elite ‘Pathfinder’ force during WWII. Jim realised that there was no single monument in existence which collectively commemorated those men and women of all the allied air forces who had given their lives, either in the air or on the ground.
In 1984, Jim successfully gained the support of Air Vice Marshal Don ‘Pathfinder’ Bennett and they subsequently persuaded Plymouth City Council to support them. This the Council did by allocating the magnificent site on Plymouth Hoe and by arranging that the office of Lord Mayor of Plymouth would henceforth become patron to the monument.
The project suffered a setback with the untimely death of Don Bennett but with the help of the local business community, Plymouth City Council and several very generous personal contributions the project eventually came to fruition in 1989.
The unveiling of the monument and it’s dedication took place on 3 September 1989, the 50th anniversary of the outbreak of World War 2, in the presence of 300 invited guests including official representatives of 15 of the allied air forces: Australia, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Denmark, Greece, India, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, Poland, South Africa, the United States and the former USSR.
Don Benett’s ashes were subsequently interred beneath the monument as later were those of Jim Davis following his death in March 2012. Next year will mark the 30th anniversary of the monument’s inauguration.
