Footsteps of WWII · Britain
Battle of Britain Memorial, Capel-le-Ferne
Memorial · Jul–Oct 1940 (memorial unveiled 9 Jul 1993)
The story
On the cliffs between Folkestone and Dover, under the air battles of 1940, stands the national memorial to the aircrew of the Battle of Britain. It was unveiled by Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother on 9 July 1993. Its centre is Harry Gray's carved figure of a seated pilot looking out to sea; his flying jacket hides rank and nationality, so he stands for every Allied airman of 'The Few'. The Christopher Foxley-Norris Memorial Wall lists almost 3,000 aircrew who flew in the battle. The visitor centre, The Wing, shaped like a Spitfire's wing, was opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 26 March 2015.
What to look for
From the air the memorial is a three-bladed propeller cut into the clifftop. Look for the seated pilot, the long wall of names, Churchill's words on the Beaverbrook Wall, and replica Hurricane and Spitfire. The Wing has the 'Scramble Experience' and a clifftop café.
Plan your visit
Grounds open on foot every day. Café, shop and Scramble Experience 10:00–17:00 to 31 October, 10:00–16:00 in winter, closed Mondays November–February. Scramble Experience about £6 adult. Car park £2–£6, card only.
Things change, so check opening times before you travel.
Nearby sites
- Dover Castle Secret Wartime Tunnels · 9 km
- RAF Manston Spitfire & Hurricane Memorial Museum · 30 km
- Batterie Todt (Atlantic Wall Museum), Audinghen · 40 km
- Blockhaus d'Éperlecques · 75 km
All 160 sites in Footsteps of WWII →
Footsteps of WWII: Europe 1939–1945
A free field guide for your phone: the route, the maps and the stories built in, even with no signal. The whole Second World War in Europe, from the first shots at Westerplatte on 1 September 1939 to the German surrender in May 1945: Dunkirk, the Battle of Britain, Normandy, Arnhem, Bastogne, Stalingrad, Berlin and the camps, in 15 areas from Britain to Russia.
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