Queen Elizabeth II commemorates the 100th anniversary of the Royal Australian Air Force

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Queen Elizabeth II commemorated the 100th anniversary of the Royal Australian Air Force as she visited the Commonwealth War Grave Commission Air Forces Memorial at Runnymede in Surrey. In what is considered her first in-person engagement for the year, Queen Elizabeth II offered a wreath and viewed about 1,300 names of Royal Australian Air Force personnel who died in service of their country.

“It’s a very long time since I’ve been here,” the 94-year-old monarch joked upon arriving at the memorial. For her outfit, her chartreuse coat and hat complemented by yellow and white flowers, matched the sunny weather.

This was the first time after almost sixty-eight years  that the queen has visited the memorial, the first time was on October 17, 1953, just four months after her coronation, when she unveiled the site.

During the solemn commemoration, which marked the founding of the RAAF in 1921, prayers were offered for the fallen Royal Australian Air Force servicemen and women and the queen’s equerry laid a wreath with a note saying, “In memory of the glorious dead, Elizabeth.” The queen afterwards viewed the displays in honor of the Australian soldiers and met with RAAF personnel.

Since the activity was held outdoors, neither the queen nor those present for the royal was required to wear facemask, although masks are advisable indoors. The queen has already had her COVID-19 vaccine last February http://royal-splendor.blogspot.com/2021/01/queen-elizabeth-ii-prince-philip-covid19-vaccine.html.

According to the Commonwealth War Grave Commission website,  the memorial commemorates “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 the 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.