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By Letters

The control tower at RAF Dallochy

It's the 70th anniversary of the Battle of Britain this year. The battle was fought over Britain between the 10th July and 31st October 1940 and was probably the first episode in the history of warfare where two air forces literally fought each other to the death.
According to the Royal British Legion, the Royal Air Force Fighter Command destroyed 1,733 German aircraft and losing 915 of their own during the summer and autumn of 1940. One sixth of the UK aircrew did not survive.
There are many remnants of that era around if you take the time to research them. They range from anti invasion pill boxes, which survive in most UK towns, to the aptly named Dragon's Teeth which blocked routes which were deemed to be vulnerable to sea borne enemy tank landings.
RAF Dallachy near Spey Bay post dates the Battle of Britain by a couple of years since it was built for Coastal Command during 1942 and was home to the Dallachy Strike Wing which operated out in the North Sea as far as the western Norwegian coast attacking coastal shipping. However the control tower and runways are quite typical of the era and present a time capsule for folk to view and think deeply on.
The control tower building is relatively intact and has a rooftop observation platform facing the runways to the northeast. One can almost see the blue uniformed RAF officers searching the sky for signs of returning aircraft following a raid.
Seemingly on one mission all nine of the units Beaufighters failed to return. There is a monument nearby which commemorates the 70 aircrew who died on missions from the airfield.

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