13
City & Village Tours: 0208 692 1133
of the war.
The Battle of Britain Memorial at Capel-le-Ferne just
outside Dover, was opened by the Queen Mother, Lord
Warden of the Cinque Ports, in 1993 and dedicated to the
69 squadrons who took part in the epic battle in 1940
.
The
statue of a lone pilot looks out to sea and the names of all
those who fought in the Battle of Britain are inscribed on a
Memorial Wall close to a replica Spitfire and Hurricane.
To mark the 75
th
anniversary a new building called The
Wing, fashioned in the shape of a Spitfire, was opened by
Her Majesty The Queen on a really windy and rainy day
in March 2015. The Wing is not a museum. It houses
The Scramble Experience and uses audio-visual magic to
show something of what it was like for The Few in the
summer and early autumn of 1940. The thinking is similar
to that which inspired the recent makeover of the Imperial
War Museum. Going forward our younger generations will
not be able to learn about these aspects of our history from
the people who were there so we need to find new ways of
telling the story. In the famous words of Winston Churchill:
The gratitude of every home in our island, in our Empire,
and indeed throughout the world, except in the abodes of
the guilty, goes out to the British airmen who, undaunted
by odds, unwearied in their constant challenge and mortal
danger, are turning the tide of the world by their prowess
and by their devotion. Never in the field of human conflict
was so much owed by so many to so few.
The Scramble Experience is housed in one triangular shaped
room at The Wing. All around are interactive screens as
well as more traditional exhibits, for example there’s a table
from a pilots ready room with a tin mug of tea. I bet I wasn't
the only visitor who couldn't resist poking a finger into the
tea just to confirm it wasn't really tea! Covering the longest
wall of the triangle and stretching onto the ceiling above us
are screens onto which is projected a short film showing an
RAF crew scrambling and taking part in aerial combat with
German fighters in the skies above Kent. Nothing I've read
or viewed before has brought home with such intimate
clarity the awful reality of life for these, mostly very young,
men. The short film is a mix of real life actors as well as
computer generated images recreating the dog fights
projected onto the screens above us. I'm told that at the
opening with HM The Queen the Battle of Britain pilots and
crew in attendance were wiping tears from their eyes. Very
moving and very evocative it is, The Scramble Experience
at The Wing is well worth a visit even for those groups who
have been up to Capel-le-Ferne in past years.
On the first floor an
open cockpit balcony looks out over the
memorial with views far out to sea. You can look through
special binoculars and see Luftwaffe fighters coming across
the Channel from France. In the shop there is an attractive
range of modern merchandising at really pleasing prices -
fridge magnets for thirty bob! They also have an interesting
selection of collectors' items and these seemed to be very
fairly priced too. This fair price policy continues in the new
café where tea also costs thirty bob with cake at £1.20. The
site is managed by Jules Gomez, a native of Gibraltar, who
explained that the site hopes of course to pay its own way
way but above all the key aim of The Wing is to tell the
story of the Battle of Britain and keep alive the memory of
The Few. I think it's going to do a fine job of it.
You can visit The Scramble Experience at the Wing
as part of a day trip with City & Village Tours.
There are two itineraries on offer.
There'll Be Bluebirds
This day starts with morning coffee and a big tasty
home-made Anzac cookie (from a Great War recipe)
at an attractive cafe in one of the Lympne Castle yards
after which we pay our respects at the Battle of Britain
graves and take in the magnificent view across Romney
Marsh and over to Dungeness in one direction and the
White Cliffs in the other. It's a great place to start the
story of frontline Kent before a coach tour through Hythe
and Folkestone tells the story of life in Hellfire Corner
during the Battle of Britain. We stop for a two-course
lunch at the four star Dover Marina hotel which also
gives us an opportunity to see the memorials down by
the beach and take in views of Dover Castle above us.
In the afternoon we visit The Scramble Experience at
the Wing up at The National Memorial to the Few at
Capel-le-Ferne where there is time to buy tea before
heading home at 4.45pm.
This day costs £32.00 per person and includes the top
notch Blue Badge Guide, morning coffee & biscuit,
2-course lunch and admission to the Scramble Experi-
ence at The Wing.
The tour is quite light on the feet and is available daily
all year. It would be a good choice for a day out in
August, September or October 2015. It would also be
a very good choice for March 2016.
Read more about it
The Battle of Britain Memorial Explorer
This day is an ideal choice for groups coming from
further afield or for groups that include many older
members who'd prefer a later departure from home and
a shorter day out. On this day you arrive in Dover at
11.45am ready for a 2-course meal with coffee at
midday at the 4-star Dover Marina Hotel. After lunch a
stretch of the legs out onto the seafront to take in the war
memorials and the views of Dover Castle and the White
Cliffs and then a 45 minute coach tour of Hellfire Corner
to tell the story of The Battle of Britain in Kent. The day
concludes with a visit to The Scramble Experience at the
Wing at the National Memorial to the Few and time to
buy tea (thirty bob a cup remember!) before heading
home at 4.30pm.
This tour is also available daily all year and costs £29.00
including the guide, 2-course lunch with coffee and
admission to The Scramble Experience.
Read the tour description
