Search Results for: Tim elkington

Across this morning to join many members of the family at Westminster Abbey for the 77th Battle of Britain memorial service. Tim was one of four surviving BoB veterans who took part – delightfully receiving a standing ovation at one point.

Fascinating conversations with a range of people, including family members of veterans, young RAF volunteers and even an aviation historian.

BoB veteran Tom Neil, who was in the front row, directly ahead of us in the Abbey, quoted here as saying that he and his comrades in arms (or on wings) were survivors, rather than heroes.

The truth is that they were – and continue to be – both.

Today, my father – Tim Elkington – went up to Derby with my sister Tessa for a dinner hosted by Rolls-Royce as part of the rededication of a Battle of Britain stained glass window (above, from www.the-few.org.uk).

The window was first dedicated in 1949, the year I was born, in the presence of BoB veteran Douglas Bader.

Whisked northwards, and back, in a gleaming Mercedes, Tim was asked to speak at the dinner. Here is what he said:

I’m here today to join with you in remembering those who fought in the Battle of Britain, and your contribution to its outcome.

But more especially, I’ve come to say thank you, Rolls-Royce.

I thank you, first, for the ‘R Type’ engine which powered the Schneider Trophy aircraft and Campbell’s Bluebird, which kick started my career in the Royal Air Force.

And I’m grateful, too, for the hundreds of hours I have flown behind Kestrel, Merlin, Griffon and Derwent engines – in Europe, Russia, on Atlantic Convoys, in India and the Pacific – without a failure.

You have never let me down.

A tribute surely to good design – and the work of your hands?

Thank you.

Slightly ironic that the smoking chimneys shown as background in the Rolls-Royce window symbolise both the effort that went into making the machines that helped win the war, and the damage done to human health and the wider environment by industrial activity – something my own life has been dedicated to flagging and putting to rights.

Today saw my father, Tim Elkington, celebrated alongside six other Battle of Britain veterans at Clarence House. Not entirely sure how he ever fitted into a Hurricane or Spitfire …