Battle Of Britain Tributes Sealed In Time Capsule

Thousands of messages paying tribute to the men and women who contributed to the Battle of Britain have been buried in a time capsule ahead of the air campaign's 80th anniversary.

About 6,000 tributes were sent to the Royal Air Forces Association, which provides support for the RAF community, preserving their gratitude for future generations.

In a ceremony involving a small group of people due to coronavirus restrictions, the capsule was buried in the Remembrance Garden at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire.

Marking the 80th anniversary of the last daylight raid in the UK by Germany’s Luftwaffe, which took place on 31 October 1940, the tributes included messages from the families of those that served as well as from the public and serving and former RAF personnel.

One wrote: "Thank you to all the men and women working behind the scenes, and whose role in the Battle of Britain has not always been recognised.

"And thank you to the crews of Coastal and Bomber Command, including my father, who were taking the fight to the enemy at the same time as the crews of Fighter Command were defending the skies of Britain."

One message was from RAF fast jet pilot and ex-England rugby international Rory Underwood.

"I salute every single individual who contributed to securing victory – engineers, operations staff, medical personnel and postal workers, just to name a few," he wrote.

"Their incredible courage, resilience and sacrifice is an example to us all, and I can’t thank them enough."

Speaking after the ceremony, RAF Association president Air Marshal Sir Baz North said he hoped that the time capsule would remind future generations of the significance of the Battle of Britain.

"We don’t know when our time capsule will be dug up and opened, but we do know that whoever reads these tributes in the future will be bowled over by today’s society’s overwhelming gratitude to everyone who contributed to the battle’s hard-won victorious outcome," he said.