New generation helps to mark the sacrifices of the Battle of Britain at Banbury remembrance service

An eleven-year-old schoolgirl stepped in to carry the historic Mace at Banbury's Battle of Britain Thanksgiving and Remembrance Service yesterday (Sunday).
L - r Cllr Surinder Dhesi, Sir Tony Baldry, Rose Hassall with the Mace and Mrs Amanda Ponsonby at St Mary's Church, Banbury. Picture by Simon LewthwaiteL - r Cllr Surinder Dhesi, Sir Tony Baldry, Rose Hassall with the Mace and Mrs Amanda Ponsonby at St Mary's Church, Banbury. Picture by Simon Lewthwaite
L - r Cllr Surinder Dhesi, Sir Tony Baldry, Rose Hassall with the Mace and Mrs Amanda Ponsonby at St Mary's Church, Banbury. Picture by Simon Lewthwaite

Rose Hassall - a Chenderit School pupil - bravely offered to carry the Mace when the official mace-bearer was unable to attend the occasion at St Mary's Church.

Daughter of Banbury Town Council's deputy clerk, Mark Hassall, Rose had gone to the service to mark the contribution of her great-grandfather, RAF pilot, Sqn Ldr Cyril Hassall, DSO, DFC and BAR who completed 102 sortis.

High Steward of Banbury, Sir Tony Baldry said: "Rose carried the Mace very efficiently to and from church – the first time that Banbury has seen a woman Mace-bearer since the grant of the Borough’s Charter by Queen Mary Tudor."

Before the procession to St Mary's, l - r Cllr Surinder Dhesi, relief mace-bearer Rose Hassall and High Steward of Banbury Sir Tony Baldry. Picture by Simon LewthwaiteBefore the procession to St Mary's, l - r Cllr Surinder Dhesi, relief mace-bearer Rose Hassall and High Steward of Banbury Sir Tony Baldry. Picture by Simon Lewthwaite
Before the procession to St Mary's, l - r Cllr Surinder Dhesi, relief mace-bearer Rose Hassall and High Steward of Banbury Sir Tony Baldry. Picture by Simon Lewthwaite

The Annual Battle of Britain Service of Thanksgiving and Remembrance has been held in Banbury every year since 1940. This year - the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Britain - was no exception.

"Banbury is one of the few towns in England that have a regular annual service for the Battle of Britain," said Sir Tony. "Banbury was much involved in the war effort with Banbury’s aluminium factory playing an important role in providing aluminium for aircraft metal.

"In the early years of the Second World War, Banbury’s aluminium factory (The Ally) was the largest producer of aircraft metal in the country and produced aluminium for the manufacture of RAF planes including Spitfires and Lancaster Bombers. If the Banbury factory had not existed the outcome of the Battle of Britain could have been very different."

To deceive German bombers, the real factory was camouflaged and a decoy building erected north of Banbury. The fake factory was known as the 'Dummy Ally' and was bombed on the October 3, 1940.

Other bombs fell on Banbury, including one on Lock 29, which nearly resulted in the town being seriously flooded. A memorial to that event has been recently unveiled in the Castle Quay Shopping Centre where the new, fresh produce market called Lock 29 has been opened.

Banbury was also at the centre of a number of Second World War airfields including Upper Heyford, Barford St John, Shenington, Hinton-in-the-Hedges and Enstone, which resulted in a strong RAF presence in the town. Banbury still has a physical RAF Club.

Banbury has always had a very strong Air Cadet Unit. Banbury Air Cadets were one of the first Air Cadet units in the country to be established in 1940 and is still going strong today. Many Banbury Air Cadets have gone on to join the Royal Air Force.

This year, because of CV-19, the Battle of Britain parade had no traditional band, no Air Cadets and no civic guests. The deputy Mayor of Banbury, Cllr Surinder Dhesi, and the High Steward, Sir Tony Baldry, processed together from the Town Hall, led by the relief Mace Bearer to St. Mary’s Church where they were met and joined by the High Sheriff of Oxfordshire, Amanda Ponsonby.

Sir Tony said: "Notwithstanding Covid-19, the town was determined to have a Battle of Britain service. Because of restrictions, it was an invited congregation made up largely of members of the Royal British Legion and the Royal Air Force Association. The service was conducted by the Rev Serena Tajima, the Vicar of St Mary’s, who gave an excellent sermon and contained all the usual elements of the Annual Battle of Britain Service, including the traditional reading of the poem High Flight, written by former Rugby School student Pilot Officer Gillespie Magee, a Spitfire Pilot who was killed aged 19.

"The poem starts: 'Oh! I have slipped surly bonds of Earth / And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings”... and concludes: “And while with silent lifting mind I trod / The high un-trespassed sanctity of space / Put out my hand and touched the face of God',"

Restrictions did not allow hymns to be sung but the church choir sang the Battle of Britain hymn and Guide me O Thou Great Redeemer from the church galleries and the National Anthem at the end of the service.

Deputy Town Mayor of Banbury, Cllr Surinder Dhesi said: "We also use this event to ensure we don’t forget the contributions of pilots from the commonwealth. We have a lot to thank our brave pilots and service personnel for - those who gave their lives to make this a safer place for the rest of us.”

The organisation of this year's Battle of Britain service is helping with the planning of the Remembrance Service in Banbury in November, when the 'Rule of 6' will make it impossible to have the traditional wreath laying in People’s Park.

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