They fought to keep the skies above Britain free from German menace, hunted for U-boats in the North Sea and Atlantic, supported the land forces and took the fight to the enemy on bombing raids over Axis territory. The men and women commemorated on Runnymede came from all parts of the Britain, the Commonwealth and beyond, including some from countries in continental Europe which had been overrun but whose airmen continued to fight in the ranks of the Royal Air Force. Over 20,000 who were lost in operations over Britain and northern and western Europe are commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial, while those missing of other theatres of war are commemorated on memorials elsewhere in the world, including at Malta, El Alamein and Singapore. RAF C oastal C ommand crew walks to their plane, 1945 © IWM CH 14814
Many have no known grave, having crashed in remote locations, been lost at sea or buried anonymously as an unknown solider or airman under a headstone bearing the inscription : ‘ K nown unto G od ’. In th e se raids, seven aircraft were lost and twenty-five airmen killed, the first casualties in what would become a global struggle for mastery of the skie s a contest which would cost the lives of more than 116,000 men and women of the Commonwealth Air Forces. The Royal Air Force saw some of the earliest action of the Second World War when on 4 September 1939, the day after Britain declared war on Germany, RAF bombers attacked German shipping near Brunsbüttel and Wilhelmshaven. Per ardua ad astra / through adversity to the stars
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