Runnymede Air Forces Memorial

A beautiful memorial dedicated to all the UK and commonwealth airforce personnel who lost their lives in the 2nd world war and have no known grave. They include 1 Victoria Cross and 5 George cross recipients, including section officer Noor Inayat-Khan who served with the SOE in occupied France as a radio operator. She was captured and tortured by the Gestapo and eventually executed in Dachau concentration camp, aged 30.

Over 20000 men and woman are remembered here. A beautiful, evocative memorial beautifully maintained as ever by the Commonwealth war graves commission.

Fantastic views from the top. They have reopened the stairs. You'll be able to see Heathrow airport and Windsor Castle with your naked eyes.

We parked at the Runnymede carpark on the main road from Windsor and cut across the fields following the footpath up into the woods. After a pleasant walk up through the woods at Coopers Hill we arrived at the Air Forces Memorial. It was a beautiful building in white stone, a truly fitting memorial to all those lost men and (a few) women who served in the Air Force, from all around the Commonwealth, including Canada, Australia and India. Around a covered colonnade which enclosed a central square the walls were covered with the carved names of over 20,000 Air Force Personnel who were lost in action and did not have a permanent resting place. So sad and sombre seeing all those names. Even more poignant were the photos of the lost loved ones from all those years ago and messages and tokens from visiting families. The memorial really brought it home to us the sheer scale of those unfound numbers of young men and women. Not just numbers but real people with names and bereaved families. A very sobering visit. The centre of the memorial overlooked the surrounding countryside from its great vantagepoint and a couple of flights of stairs up to the top of the memorial and to really splendid views of the nearby areas, including over to Windsor Castle, towards Heathrow Airport and towards the taller buildings of London.
A really interesting, if a little poignant, visit. Such a memorial will hopefully bring comfort to those visiting from afar to see the names of their long missing forebears carved in stone on a beautiful National Memorial.

The Air force memorial at Runnymede where engraved on the walls are the 20,000 people who lost there lives during the second World War. This is well worth a visit, if you use the spiral staircase and work you way to the top, the views are breathtaking

Great memorial, a very fitting reminder of all the sacrifice from our service men and women.

What a fantastic tribute to the Air Force.

The Air Forces Memorial at Runnymede commemorates by name over 20,000 men and women of the air forces, who were lost in the Second World War during operations from bases in the United Kingdom and North and Western Europe, and who have no known graves. They served in Bomber, Fighter, Coastal, Transport, Flying Training and Maintenance Commands, and came from all parts of the Commonwealth. Some were from countries in continental Europe which had been overrun but whose airmen continued to fight in the ranks of the Royal Air Force.

The memorial was designed by Sir Edward Maufe with sculpture by Vernon Hill. The engraved glass and painted ceilings were designed by John Hutton and the poem engraved on the gallery window was written by Paul H Scott. The Memorial was unveiled by The Queen on 17 October 1953.

Total identified casualties 20275 from the second world war.

Free parking around the area. There are other places of interest. Writ in Water. Cooper's Hill. Magna Carter. JFK memorial and other places of interest in the area making it a 4 hour day trip.

A quiet peaceful place to reflect on those in the RAF from all commonwealth countries who died during WW2. We walked up from Runnymede pleasure gardens so was a nice walk up Cooper's hill. But great views up there, can clearly see planes landing at Heathrow a distance away.

The offsite car park is just a short walk from the Memorial, the grounds of which are very well kept. It was good to see the names of the thousands of airforce personell of all grades from GB and the Commonwealthwho were killed in action engraved in stone memorials. Well worth a visit in the hills above Runneymede.