The Battle of Britain took place 75 years ago on the 18th of September. The bloke and I got tickets for that day to go to a concert at Biggin Hill airport, which was a runway used in the second World War by the pilots who defended the country from the German planes. The concert was broadcast live in cinemas around the country and on BBC Radio 2 'Friday Night is Music Night'.
The event was hosted by Dermot O'Leary, Jeremy Vine, and Sophie Raworth. The concert included a live orchestra (BBC Concert Orchestra) and a selection of music of the era performed and sang by Pixie Lott and others. Archive footage was shown as well as new footage from RAF personnel and stories from those who lived through these times. Some of the letters and poetry written at the time was set to music.
When we arrived at the hangar, where the concert was held, we admired a few Spitfire planes in front of the hangars. Two of these would be used in fly-past and a display before the concert.
We walked around a couple of kiosks set up with Spitfire finds and another selling stamps. Live music was also taking place outside as well as a re-enactment of the camp. The area was cramped with only two food stands and a bar serving, so the queues were horrendous and they did not plan that correctly. We did not have lunch nor dinner as we had rushed around that day and got stuck in bad traffic.
When the sun was setting, we watched the two Spitfires go onto the runway so that they could take off.
We watched the displays.
After the display, we made our way into the hangar for the concert. We were sat far back and couldn't see the stage as there were too many heads in the way (the seats were not staggered), but I managed to get a couple of photographs. The sound quality also was not great in the hangar and I had trouble making out what was being said, but we did catch a repeat of it on television, and it sounded amazing.
Did you watch the concert at Biggin Hill or see it in the cinema? What did you think?
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