Nearly 1,000 Royal Canadian Air Cadets from the Lower Mainland will gather at Boundary Bay Airport this Sunday to commemorate the 73rd anniversary of the Battle of Britain. These youths will be honouring veterans, many of whom were Canadians, of that famous air battle over the skies of England.
The event is set to get underway at 1:30 p.m., with a flypast featuring aircraft from the Canadian Museum of Flight taking place at 1:45 p.m. This year's reviewing officer is retired Col. George Miller, who served with the Royal Canadian Air Force from 1953 to 1988. Some of the highlights of his career included flying with the Golden Hawks aerobatic team and the Snowbirds. He also served in Germany, Egypt and the Sudan prior to completing his career as the base commander at the Canadian Forces Base Moose Jaw.
Special guests this year will include Anne Callaghan, United States consul general to Canada, and Mayor Lois Jackson.
During the summer of 1940, a few hundred fighter pilots stood in the way of Hitler's massive air attack on England. Over 100 Canadians were among them. Dubbed the Battle of Britain, it was the first decisive clash of the Second World War and the first battle in history to be fought exclusively in the air.
Royal Canadian Air Force Station Boundary Bay was part of the Commonwealth Air Training Plan and home to Number 18 Elementary Flying Training School.
