The memorial in the grounds of the former RAF fighter Command HQ near Stanmore remembers ‘The Few’ who defeated the Luftwaffe in 1940 and prevented the Germans invading.
The cascade is made from 1,339 poppies — the number of British airmen killed during the Second World War. This included 544 who lost their lives during the air battle itself.
The poppies were knitted by museum staff, volunteers, community groups and The Worshipful Company of Framework Knitters, and are on display until mid-December.
“The knitters created the poppies in remembrance of ‘The Few’,” museum director Eleanor Pulfer-Sharma explained. “The poppies remember the Battle of Britain and all the aircrew who sadly died in the war.”
Bentley Priory is a historic Grade II-listed mansion house that housed RAF Fighter Command HQ during the Battle of Britain, led by Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Dowding.
It was Prime Minister Winston Churchill who said after the RAF victory in the air that “Never was so much owed by so many to so few”.
Bentley Priory near Stanmore Common is open Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays, with group and school visits booked on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays.
