Ruislip is an area in the London Borough of Hillingdon in West London. Prior to 1965 it was in Middlesex. Ruislip lies 13.8 miles (22.2 km) west-north-west of Charing Cross, London.
The London Borough of Hillingdon is the largest and westernmost borough in West London, England. It was formed in 1965 from the districts of Hayes and Harlington, Ruislip-Northwood, Uxbridge, and Yiewsley and West Drayton in the ceremonial county of Greater London. Today, Hillingdon is home to Heathrow Airport and Brunel University, and is the second largest of the 32 London boroughs by area.
Royal Air Force Northolt or more simply RAF Northolt is a Royal Air Force station in South Ruislip, 2 nautical miles from Uxbridge in the London Borough of Hillingdon, western Greater London, England, approximately 6 mi (10 km) north of Heathrow Airport. The station handles many private civil flights in addition to Air Force flights. Northolt has one runway in operation, spanning 1,687 m × 46 m, with a grooved asphalt surface. This airport is used for government and VIP transport to and from London.
South Ruislip is an area of west London in the London Borough of Hillingdon, south-east of Ruislip, south of Eastcote, north-west of Northolt, and west of South Harrow. A 2017 estimation put the population of South Ruislip ward as 13,150 residents.
RAF Uxbridge was a Royal Air Force (RAF) station in Uxbridge, within the London Borough of Hillingdon, occupying a 44.6-hectare (110-acre) site that originally belonged to the Hillingdon House estate. The British Government purchased the estate in 1915, three years before the founding of the RAF. Until the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939, the station was open to the public.
No. 303 Squadron RAF, also known as the 303rd "Tadeusz Kościuszko Warsaw" Fighter Squadron, was one of two Polish squadrons that fought during the Battle of Britain along with No. 302 Squadron, of 16 total Polish squadrons during the Second World War. Flying Hawker Hurricanes, the squadron claimed the largest number of aircraft shot down of the 66 Allied fighter squadrons engaged in the Battle of Britain, even though it joined the fray two months after the battle had begun.
The Battle of Britain Monument in London is a sculpture on the Victoria Embankment, overlooking the River Thames, which commemorates the individuals who took part in the Battle of Britain during the Second World War.
The Royal Air Force (RAF) and Fleet Air Arm had included personnel from outside the United Kingdom from before the beginning of the Second World War, and many served in the Battle of Britain in summer 1940. Many of these volunteers were British subjects—thus, citizens—coming from territories that made up part of the British Empire. Additionally, a significant part was made up of refugees and exiles from German-occupied Europe and American emigrants.
Project MoDEL is a project run for the Ministry of Defence (MoD) by the ministry's Defence Infrastructure Organisation and VSM Estates, a joint venture established between Vinci PLC and St. Modwen Properties to bid for the contract. The project involves the consolidation and sale of surplus Ministry of Defence properties around Greater London into around £180m of new developments at RAF Northolt. A total of 80% of the existing buildings at RAF Northolt were demolished and replaced by the newly built facilities.
Franciszek "Frank" Gruszka, Polish soldier (porucznik), Flying Officer (F/O) of the Royal Air Force during the Battle of Britain. He was one of the first Polish airmen flying the Spitfire and the last pilot of the Battle buried with honors.
RAF South Ruislip, also known as South Ruislip Air Station, was a non-flying Air Force station located in South Ruislip near London, England. Located close to RAF Northolt, the station was used by the United States Air Force's Third Air Force from 1949 until 1972, when the headquarters were moved to RAF Mildenhall.
RAF West Ruislip was a Ministry of Defence site, located in Ickenham within the London Borough of Hillingdon. The base was originally built as a depot for the Royal Air Force (RAF), split by what is now the Chiltern Main Line. North of the railway was RAF Blenheim Crescent, which housed the RAF Records Office and the depot's original personnel accommodation.
The Battle of Britain Bunker is an underground operations room at RAF Uxbridge, formerly used by No. 11 Group Fighter Command during the Second World War. Fighter aircraft operations were controlled from there throughout the War but most notably during the Battle of Britain and on D-Day. Today it is run by Hillingdon Council as a heritage attraction with attached museum. The museum was opened in 1985, with an above ground visitor centre opened in March 2018.
The Royal Air Force Bomber Command Memorial is a memorial in The Green Park, London, commemorating the crews of RAF Bomber Command who embarked on missions during the Second World War. The memorial, on the south side of Piccadilly, facing Hyde Park Corner, was built to mark the sacrifice of 55,573 aircrew from Britain, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Poland, Czechoslovakia and other allied countries, as well as civilians of all nations killed during raids.
The Winged Lion Memorial was unveiled on 17 June 2014 at Klárov in Prague by the British Member of Parliament, Rt Hon Sir Nicholas Soames MP, grandson of Sir Winston Churchill. It is dedicated to the Czechoslovak airmen who served in the Royal Air Force (RAF) during World War II and who achieved acclaim for their contribution to the Battle of Britain.
The Spirit of the Few Monument is a memorial at the Kent Battle of Britain Museum at Hawkinge which commemorates the 2,938 aircrew of the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm who took part in the Battle of Britain during the Second World War. The monument, unveiled on 29 July 2022, is in the form of bronze sculptures of seven pilots of the RAF. It replicates a well-known photograph taken on 29 July 1940 of pilots of No. 32 Squadron, which flew from Hawkinge airfield during the Battle of Britain.
