Many honour the few for Battle of Britain service

The courage and sacrifice of those who fought off the Nazis to win the Battle of Britain was remembered yesterday.

On the 70th anniversary of the day the first German bombs fell on London, 2,500 people packed into St Paul's Cathedral to remember the Blitz spirit.

The service remembered all those who contributed during the Battle of Britain with former pilots and other military personnel standing alongside firefighters, nurses and ambulance workers from the era.

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The Duke of Kent and the Lord Mayor of London, Nick Anstee, were among the dignitaries who joined the remembrance event at the cathedral which survived the Blitz and became a symbol of British defiance.

The Duke took the royal salute outside the cathedral after the service as air cadets and current servicemen and women joined veterans for a parade.

Onlookers packed the streets to watch while office workers crowded by windows to catch a glimpse of the Dakota, Spitfire and Lancaster aircraft which flew overhead. A Spitfire also stood at the bottom of the cathedral steps.

The Duke, who holds the rank of Honorary Air Chief Marshal in the RAF, wore military uniform.

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It was June 18, 1940 when then prime minister Winston Churchill warned the nation: "The Battle of France is over. The Battle of Britain is about to begin."

Four days later France surrendered to Germany and the following month the German air force tried to clear the way for a Nazi invasion of Britain.

Hitler was forced to call of his plans after the RAF defeated the Luftwaffe in the skies above London and the south coast.

The Ven (Air Vice Marshal) Ray Pentland, who gave the sermon, said everyone who played a role in the Battle of Britain, from Bomber Command to those who provided refreshments, was part of the story which changed the course of history.

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"Without the Battle of Britain there would have been no D-Day, no Victory in Europe," he said. "We remember and celebrate those who won for us freedom through their bravery and sacrifice. Their deeds shall never be forgotten."

Padre Pentland added the warning: "We live daily with the evil of terrorism that would seek to take away that hard-won freedom that we celebrate today. It must not be allowed to do so."

Yesterday's Tube strike meant that getting to St Paul's for the service was a struggle for many of those invited and the Dean, the Right Rev Graeme Knowles, started the service by thanking everyone for making the "supreme effort" to attend.

Dean Knowles later read the now famous words uttered by Churchill: "The gratitude of every home in our island, in our empire, and indeed throughout the world, except in the abodes of the guilty, goes out to the British airmen who, undaunted by odds, unwearied in their constant challenge and mortal danger, are turning the tide of the world war by their prowess and by their devotion.

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"Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few."

An air raid siren then sounded the start of a minute's silence.

The president of the RAF Association, Air Marshal Philip Sturley said this is likely to be the last major anniversary that many veterans will be able to attend, so it was important it was marked.

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