Air Forces Memorial

The Air Forces Memorial stands on Coopers Hill Lane in Englefield Green, beside the Thames valley near Egham in Surrey. It is a stone structure built by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission to honour 20,456 airmen and airwomen from the British Empire who vanished without trace during the Second World War. Their names are carved on the walls, grouped by country and squadron, so that every casualty is recorded. The memorial was designed by Sir Edward Maufe with sculpture by Vernon Hill and glasswork by John Hutton. A gallery window carries a poem by Paul H Scott. Completed in 1953, it was the first post-war building listed for its architectural merit. From the tower there are long views across Runnymede Meadow, where King John sealed Magna Carta in 1215, and on clear days London landmarks appear. Visitors walk among the engraved walls and climb the tower for wide vistas over the Thames and Windsor Castle to the west. The surrounding Coopers Hill Lane is quiet, with Brunel University’s old campus nearby. Names like Amy Johnson, Noor Inayat Khan and several Battle of Britain aces remind all who come of the human cost recorded here.