We passed through Moffat on our way down south and decided to explore the park to the south of the town.

I have posted about Moffat several times before.

I discovered there a memorial to Air Chief Marshal Hugh Dowding, head of Fighter Command during the Battle of Britain, who was born in the town.

It could be said he was the architect of that victory over the Luftwaffe which made Britain’s continuing survival possible.

Surmounted by Churchill’s famous quote and flanked by the dates 1882 and 1970, the memorial has the dedication, “With a nation’s gratitude Air Chief Marshal Hugh Caswall Tremenheere Dowding, Baron of Bentley Priory, GCB, GCVO, CMG, leader of the few, Battle of Britain, 1940, architect of deliverance,” with below, “Born in Moffat.”

Dowding Memorial:-

The names of some World War 2 fields of miltary operations are inscribed on the base of the pillars supprtoing the lintels of Stonehaven War Memorial.

“North Atlantic, Narvik”

“Dunkirk, Battle of Britain”

“El Alamein, Cassino”

“Normandy Beaches, Burma”

The World War 2 dead are commemorated in a series of four granite panels sitting by the Memorial’s pillars. The first is also inscribed with the dedication, “To the memory of those from the District of Stonehaven whose names are inscribed on these panels who lost their lives in the World War 1939 -1945,” as well as the names.

J Fraser Anderson – John Christie:-

William J Christie – James Mc I Findlay:-

Robert T Foster – George Masson:-

William Masson – Alexander R Williamson:-

Portland stone headstones but not usual Commonwealth War Graves Commission shape.

Squadron Leader M E Le Gallez, RAF, 22/4/1962, aged 41 – outwith wartime and Charles Arthur Coatman, 17/7/1942, Lands Officer, Air Ministry – wartime but not in military:-

More non-war graves:-

But one of them, Sergeant J Lowe, RAF, has an inscription relating to the Battle of Britain. He died on 8/10/1973, aged 53:-

This meme, originating with Judith, Reader in the Wilderness, has now been taken over by Katrina at Pining for the West.

Back in the days of the Cold War spy fiction was a big thing. The two main purveyors of the form – in the UK anyway – were my (sur)namesake Len Deighton (although he pronounces the “Deigh” part to rhyme with “day” rather than “die”) and John le Carré. I also have a le Carré omnibus of his early works shelved elsewhere.

These, too, are housed in the garage, below the last of my SF paperbacks (see last week’s post.)

I have read all the books by Deighton here. His book Fighter is not on these shelves because it’s a history of the Battle of Britain but then Blitzkrieg is also a history book and it is here. Winter is not a spy novel but reflects Deighton’s knowledge of Germany (specifically Berlin) in the first half of the twentieth century. Goodbye Mickey Mouse is a novel featuring members of the US Air Force which took part in the campaign in World War 2 in the lead up to the invasion of Normandy. SS-GB is an altered history set in a Britain where a German invasion of the UK in 1940 succeeded.

I’ve not read all the le Carrés. Spy fiction lost a lot of its resonance when the Cold War ended whereupon he moved on to other things. I always meant to get round to his later stuff but life (and other books) got in the way.

Model of Montrose Air Station at Montrose Air Station Heritage Centre:-

Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA) poster. The ATA featured many women pilots:-

Detail:-

Photos of some women flyers:-

Civilian casualties:-

RAF Sector Clock:-

RAF Memorial Window, in stained glass. Inscribed, “This window commemorates the pilots of the Royal Air Force who in the Battle of Britain turned the work of our hands into the salvation of our country.”:-

Models of a Mosquito and Hurricane:-

War Savings Campaign Plaque:-