Sir – I’d like to praise the folks responsible for the excellent 75-year Battle of Britain floral display in Witney, near the Welch Way roundabout, adjacent to the Catholic church.

We must never forget the sacrifice our RAF pilots paid during the Second World War when Germany and Hitler’s Nazi regime was a serious threat to the British way of life, and to worldwide peace.

Britain’s pilots were vastly outnumbered in the dog-fights but they managed to see off the Luftwaffe with their Spitfires and Hurricanes.

It’s fitting with so many reminders on our very own doorstep of the part Witney and the surrounding areas played during those war years: the de Havilland airfield (de Havilland Way) – now known as the West Witney sports fields, played a crucial part repairing fighter aircraft to once again join the fight against the Luftwaffe. Of course the site was expanded considerably in those heady days.

Interestingly, the current car auctions building off Downs Road used to be an officers’ mess during the Second World War. Furthermore various nearby huts are still in use today.

Likewise the Enstone airfield which was used by Wellington bombers can be joined by other airfields at Eynsham, Kidlington, Chipping Norton, Chalgrove, and Stanton Harcourt, to name just a few. The latter was bombed in 1940 when five airfield workmen were killed plus four more sadly succumbing due to their injuries. As a result, anti-aircraft guns were installed at the airfield.

Witney’s floral display is a first-class tribute to our brave servicemen who fought in the Battle of Britain. Bravo Witney.

David Tinson
Witney