VETERANS from Bury commemorated the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Britain in a small ceremony yesterday.

From May to September 1940, Luftwaffe attacks moved away from the coast and shipping targets to RAF airfields and associated infrastructure, but a strategic response from the RAF gave Britain a slight advantage on their foe.

Germany was unable to achieve its objective of destroying the country's air defences and Hitler later scrapped his plans for an invasion of Britain.

In his famous speech, Prime Minister Winston Churchill spoke of the sacrifices made during the period, saying “Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.”

To commemorate the 80th anniversary, the Leigh Branch of the Royal Air Forces Association alongside Borough of Bury Veterans Association (BoBVA), held a socially distanced event at Bury War Memorial. Chris Harness, President of BoBVA said “We are delighted to help the RAF Association Leigh Branch commemorate this significant event and work alongside them to provide comradeship and help to veterans in the Bury area.”

The RAF Association has said that it needs people's support more than ever, as we continue to provide emergency assistance to those who have been severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Since the beginning of the national lockdown, the association has continued to provide friendship and essential supplies to thousands of additional veterans and their dependants.

To support the Associations charitable activities, members and friends of Leigh Branch of the RAF Association are usually out in force with collection buckets for the charity’s Wings Appeal, held annually during September’s Battle of Britain week. But with some of the volunteers considered to be at high risk from COVID-19, organisers have decided to move this year’s collection online, in the form of a JustGiving page.

Paul Newton, the Chairman of the RAFA Leigh, said: “While this means that supporters won’t be given the iconic Wings Appeal sticker in return for their donation, they will still be supporting the vital services that we provide to RAF veterans, serving personnel and their dependants.

"The JustGiving page means we won’t be constrained by the number of streets or supermarkets our volunteers can visit, so the sky’s now the limit in terms of how many people we can reach!”

Amy Petterson, Head of Community Fundraising at the RAF Association’s headquarters in Leicester, added: “People in the Bury area have always been incredibly generous in throwing money into our Wings Appeal buckets. In this, the Battle of Britain’s 80th anniversary year, we hope they will, but this time via justgiving.com/fundraising/rafaleighbranch.”