WW2 Airmen and Women With No Known Grave Remembered

A service has been held at the Air Forces Memorial to remember airmen and women who have no known grave after being killed in World War II.

The special service honoured the 20,000 people who lost their lives.

The memorial has their names from A-Z engraved into stone to give families a place to remember their loved ones. 

On one corner of the memorial is a plaque, dedicated to Section Officer Inayat Khan from the Women's Auxiliary Air Force.

She was the first female wireless operator to be dropped into Europe by the Special Operations Executive during the Second World War. 

Prior to her role in the Air Force, she was an Indian princess and following her death, she was awarded the George Cross for her services.

This year marks the centenary of the Royal Air Force and the Air Forces Memorial in Runnymede, near Windsor, was picked as RAF 100's focal point for commemorations. 

Peter Francis, from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, said:

"The very nature of the service and the sacrifice of many of these individuals mean they cannot have a known burial.

"Runnymede was chosen because of its proximity to London's airports, because of the fact it overlooks the fields where the Magna Carta was signed in 1215.

"It was chosen as the most fitting place to remember that sacrifice," Mr Francis explained.

Bob Body is a regular at the memorial and he comes to remember his uncle, J. W. Menzie, who earned the Distinctive Flying Cross.

"The rest of the family have a burial and there's nothing there for him at all.

"He was important to my mother and his parents. So to just go missing like that and leave such a gap, it's very important than somebody can come somewhere and see that they are remembered."

This memorial was chosen as a key stopping point for their RAF Centenary Baton relay which is being run to celebrate 100 years of the RAF. 

The torch was carried over an 18 mile journey by a group of runners through some difficult weather conditions.

Local cadets then paraded to ensure an important part of the RAF's history -  sacrifice -  is remember in its centenary year.