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No.1 Remote Sensor Unit has partnered with the RAAF Association (SA) to host South Australia’s annual Battle of Britain Commemoration Service at Torrens Parade Ground in Adelaide.
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The Commemorative Service is one of four during the year in which RAAF Edinburgh units collaborate with the RAAF Association (SA).
Commanding Officer of No.1 Remote Sensor Unit (1RSU) Wing Commander Julien Greening gave the commemoration address, saying that being an air and space surveillance unit, 1RSU has a strong linkage to the Battle of Britain.
“Today we remember the exploits and sacrifice of what has become known as ‘The Few’,” said WGCDR Greening.
“Those airmen and support personnel who fought so gallantly and so defiantly between July and October 1940 in what became the first major air campaign and the first military defeat for a German war machine that had, until that stage, overrun Europe in early World War II.
“Their actions, achievements and sacrifice were so crucial in defending Britain, they lead Winston Churchill to famously declare, ‘Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few’.”
Unconfirmed estimates suggest there were 37 Australian aircrew that participated in the Battle of Britain.
WGCDR Greening concluded the commemorative address by saying, “We remember Desmond Fopp as one of those remarkable eight South Australians of The Few and the many other allied aircrew that flew in the Battle of Britain.
“And while we commemorate The Few, we must not forget the many airmen and airwomen who perished on the airfields sustaining the pilots in the air.
“Together, they have carved a remarkable legacy of courage, sacrifice and airmanship battling against all odds to defend Britain.
“In many respects, it is a legacy unparalleled. A legacy that we, as Australians and the Royal Australian Air Force, have as a responsibility and honour to nurture and hold into the future.”
Fopp flew Hurricane’s in fighter sweeps across France, Netherlands and Belgium to cover the retreat of allied troops and then flew all over southern England as part of The Battle of Britain. His family was in attendance for the service.
