RAF Tour 3

Not really a tour, as I only visited 2 sites, more a run out. Keeping up the theme though.

Through Phil at Spitfire Club, I became aware of a memorial at Dungeness, for 2 Polish pilots from 303 Squadron, killed in that area, on the same day and presumably in the same dogfight, in April 1941. I'm not sure why I hadn't seen this when I planned RAF Tour 2, as this memorial is only a few miles from Greatstones and the Liberator memorial I visited but anyway, it gave me another excuse to get out for another ride.

It was another very warm day and I took a leisurely ride through the Kent countryside. I'd timed the trip so that I could have my picnic when I arrived, so that I did, before going in search of the memorial. It was fairly easy to find, only being a few hundred yards from the old lighthouse. Basically, you just walk straight from the end of the car park and there it is. It's lovely to think that people still care enough to remember these chaps and I take my hat off to anyone involved in the upkeep of these memorials, from this one on the windy exposed shingle of Dungeness, to those tucked away at the roadside down some country lane. We should never forget the sacrifice many made to keep our country free and in this case, chaps whose country had already been overrun by the Nazis. What spirit, what guts, and what great skill those of 303 Squadron in particular showed.

From Dungeness, I decided to pop up the coast to Capel-le-Ferne and pay a visit to the Battle of Britain Memorial. It's only about 2 years since I last visited but I'd seen on a TV programme that they had a new exhibit, a Junkers 87 Stuka dive bomber.

I dropped in on my brother on the way passed and saught his advice on where to get fuel, cheap supermarket fuel, as Ginny was by now showing a range of just 14 miles. Failing to actually take in what he said, I found myself way off course and having to resort to the phone, to try and locate the Tesco stop. I'd been riding around for a good 3 or 4 miles, with range showing zero, before I eventually got to Tesco. Mild panic over and with a full tank, I carried on to Capel. They have a new tarmac motorcycle parking bay, big enough for about 4 bikes, right by the entrance, which is good. Not so good, you have to ride across the gravel driveway to get to it, which is always a nervy thing on a big bike like Ginny. It's not so much the grip of the bike but that of your feet. Lose your footing even slightly and the weight of the bike can have you on your arse in the blink of an eye. I had no problems I should say, just clenched those buttocks a tad.

Sure enough, just behind the display Spitfire & Hurricane, there stands, nose down in the dirt, a gleaming silver Stuka. I don't know if they have any plans to paint it but I must say, it does look mighty good in silver, with the sun glinting off it. 

The ride home was a somewhat less leisurely than the ride down, as I just jumped onto the M20. Another lovely day for riding and another interesting one too. My next RAF related outing will be to Tangmere, near Chichester. The WWII airfield no longer exists but there is an aeronautical museum there. That is still closed due to Covid-19 at the moment but my purpose of visiting, is to visit the grave of  Pilot Officer Donald Millar Lake, whose name I carried on my back when I ran the Spitfire 10k at the RAF museum in Hendon last year. Killed in September 1941, aged just 20, I want to pay my respects. You can read about that visit soon. Till then, cheerio.