Battle of Britain Day
Sunday 15th September 2026
We will remember this hugely significant day of World War 2 at the Paignton War Memorial.
86 years ago, on the 15th September 1940, what is generally accepted as the toughest and most significant day of the ‘Battle of Britain’ was fought over the skies of Kent.
On that day around 1,120 enemy aircraft were met by about 630 RAF fighters. The result was, as we know today, a victory for the RAF.
The 15th September is now the date we commemorate the ‘Battle of Britain’, which lasted from 10th July to 31st October 1940.
In total, 2,936 aircrew defended the country during the Battle of Britain, including 594 from 13 other nations.
A high price was paid for the victory with the total loss of 1,744 aircraft.
1,542 airman killed, with 422 wounded.
The civilian population also suffered heavily, with a total of 14,286 killed and 20,325 injured.
We will remember them.
Lord Ismay, one of Churchill’s key aides, wrote, in relation to the Battle of Britain:
“It was impossible to look at those young men, who might within a matter of minutes be fighting and dying to save us, without mingled emotions of wonder, gratitude and humility. The physical and mental strain must have been prodigious. And yet they were so cheerful, so confident, and so obviously dedicated.”
”Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.”
