The North Costa Blanca Branch of RAFA Commemorate the 75th Anniversary of the Battle of Britain

ON a warm, bright, sunny evening on September 15, members of the North Costa Blanca Branch of the Royal Air Forces Association hosted a dinner/dance at the El Canor Restaurant, Teulada, to commemorate the 75th Anniversary of the Battle of Britain.  In total, 120 people attended this very special dinner dance, organised to remember the events that took place in the skies over southern England during the late summer months of 1940.

The evening started with a Cava reception on the restaurant’s excellent terraces. Once everyone had assembled inside, the chairman announced that the standards of the Royal Navy Association, the RAF Association and the Royal British Legion would be paraded into the dining room to the strains of The RAF March. 

When the standards were suitably placed alongside the various national flags assembled, the chairman explained the reasons for the evening’s function by highlighting the circumstances surrounding the Battle of Britain, recounting several statements made by the young pilots who fought during the battle in their Spitfire and Hurricane aircraft.  

In addition to members of the RAF Association, the Chairman of the North Costa Blanca Branch, Wing Commander Bob Hunt, MBE, welcomed their guest of honour, Mr Lloyd Milen, Her Majesty’s Vice Consul in Alicante. 

 Additionally, the Royal Navy Association was very well represented as was the Rotary Fellowship of the North Costa Blanca and the Costa Blanca Wine Appreciation Society.

After the dinner, the guest of honour, Lloyd Milen, announced the toast to ‘The Few,’ emphasising the courage and determination displayed by the heavily outnumbered aircrew of the Royal Air Force.

A toast to the RAF was proposed by the Branch President, Air Commodore Gaby Ferenczy. 

During the evening, a very successful raffle and an equally successful auction of aviation prints were organised which, along with the sale of various items of memorabilia, raised the magnificent sum of €2,000 to go towards the RAF Association’s annual Wings Appeal.  An amazing sum of €850 was bid for a holiday in a villa in Croatia owned, and generously donated, by one of the RAF Association members, Wing Commander Cameron Gair. 

The evening was a tremendous success with everyone enjoying a splendid meal provided by the restaurant and dancing the night away to the sounds of the 1940s, provided by the TK Swing Sextet Band.