The Royal Air Force Escape Society (RAFES) Memorial - RAF Musuem, Hendon, London, UK
N 51° 35.845 W 000° 14.263
30U E 691311 N 5719878
This Royal Air Force Escape Society (RAFES) Memorial bronze plaque is on display in the RAF Musuem at Hendon in London. The bronze plaque is one of eight that was cast. The other seven are located around the globe.
Waymark Code: WMNG24
Location: London, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 03/09/2015
Views: 2
The RAF Museum is open daily from 10am to 6pm with admission being free. Car parking is available but there is a charge. The nearest underground station is Colindale about a 10-15 minute walk away or a number 303 bus passes both the tube station and museum. The co-ordinates posted are for the entrance to the "Milestones of Flight" hall/exhibition entrance.
The WW2 Escape Lines website tells us:
As a tribute to the helpers an RAFES plaque, designed and sculpted by former RAFES Secretary Elizabeth Harrison MBE, was erected in the Chapel in the crypt of the RAF Church of St Clement Danes on the Strand in London. The plaque depicts an airman being supported by two helpers, with another airman parachuting down near by. Additional plaques were cast and placed in: the RAF Museum at Hendon; The War Museums in Ottowa / Canada and Canberra / Australia; The ‘Musee de L’Armee Les Invalides / Paris; The National Resistance Museum in Overloon / Netherlands; and the Basilica in Brussels / Belgium. Recently, a final casting was privately placed in the RAF Club in London in memory of evader Al Day and all the ‘helpers’ of WW2.
Below the plaque is an information board that tells us:
Set in place by the Bomber Command Association in
memory of the extraordinary bravery shown by the
Resistance in returning more than 2,500 members of
Bomber Command safely to their squadrons after being
shot down over enemy territory.
Unveiled by La Comtesse de Jongh (Dede) leader of the
Comete Escape Line - 12th July 1986.
At the base of the plaque, in raised lettering, are the words:
On the 21st June, 1981, this plaque was dedicated to the countless brave men and women of enemy occupied countries who, during WWII (1939-1945), without thought of danger to themselves, helped 2803 aircrew of the Royal Air Force and Commonwealth air forces to escape and return to their country and so continue the struggle for freedom.
Many paid with their lives, many more endured the degradation of concentration camps. Their names are remembered in equal honour with those who were spared to fight a longer battle.
To mark its debt of gratitude, the Royal Air Forces Escaping Society erected this memorial as a lasting tribute and also to serve as an inspiration to future generations.