4326 and many persons emailing their MPs. The message is out there with almost universal outrage. I have come across a single objector who based said objection because it was a 'church'.

Need to keep the ball rolling, but the momentum at this time is fantastic. Thank you to everybody who has supported this. It has been an awesome response.

Signed.
We just cannot let our history and heritage disappear.
This place should be preserved as a memorial to all of those who served our country.

4,924

Signed. Unbelieveable that this is necessary.

Also put the petition on E-Goat.

5000+
 

Past the 5000 mark now - well done, everyone!

Fantastic response guys! A very senior wheel I messaged will be asking questions in the MOD next week!

Anyone got contact details for Sir Jock? In his position he should be able to sort it out!:ok:

Excellent coverage on BBC South East News last night :ok:

Signed 5020.

Best way forward
 

Fully support the effort to keep this wonderful chapel open, have signed the petition and circulated it to friends.

But we must not let outrage overtop the need for clear thinking. If MOD fail to close the chapel in 2016, they will try again in 2017, and again the following year, and so on. It is the way they work. It is their job. So the real question is therefore whether MOD is the right guardian/owner of the chapel in perpetuity. I was interested, for example, in the reported views of Bromley Council, which seemed positive, about talking to other stakeholders.

I would like to see English Heritage (EH) and/or the National Trust (NT) approached to consider taking responsibility for the chapel. Both run properties nearby - EH run Charles Darwin's house Down House just across the airfield, and of course NT run Chartwell a few miles south. Both would bring professional management, investment and repair where needed, and well run volunteer schemes to man the property if needed. And probably an increase in visitors - not too many at present.

Perfectly proper to be cross with MOD, but I don't think they represent the future for the chapel

Signed 5462 plus an e-mail to my MP.

6552 now.
Signed and posted on social media.

Just short of 7,000 at 1030pm

Signed - it would be helpful if someone (a senior ppruner maybe?) could consider drafting an appropriate pithy letter that many of us could use to forward to our respective MPs - I simply do not have the in depth historical insight - re this church - coming from the Southern Hemisphere; I know, Google is my friend - a suggestion to maybe bounce this into Westminster more effectively?

7357 and counting.

Just a thought ... would it be feasible to administer the chapel on the same, or joint, basis as Runnymede thereby keeping it in perpetuity?

Is the RAF community becoming obsessed with memorials as the Service approaches its 100th birthday. Why suddenly the obsession with Bomber Command memorials? I understand the need to remember and the statue in Green Park is wonderful ( but did the overall memorial need to be so big?).

The chapel at Biggin should be run as a charity, not publicly funded. Perhaps if all those signing the petition donate £10 per month the costs could be covered easily. Don't forget there is a BoB chapel at Westminster Abbey where an annual service is held. You also have St Clement Danes as the RAF Memorial Church, do the other Services have such exclusive churches etc?

Look outwards not in towards yourselves. There is a risk of becoming self-obsessed.

Just a thought, one-off grant from the Lottery Fund, and then maintained by the RAF Benevolent Fund?

Bismarck! All the Services have memorials! Some government funded, others run by trusts! The Navy has just agreed £25 million to be spent on HMS Victory from MOD funds!

We are not obsessed but trying to preserve a memorial which for a change, really means something! It's near to where the B of B was actually fought and is already visited by 12000 people a year! As things stand, it may end up the only part of Biggin Hill that survives!

I shall leave it to others to tell you what they think of you and your post!:ugh:

Well as you ask, I welcome his post. He makes some good points and he shouldn't be berated for taking a different point of view.

That 'Bismark' can make a reasoned argument in the English language is pretty much what is being commemorated


Saint George's Royal Air Force Chapel of Remembrance Biggin Hill


The last RAF unit left Biggin Hill in October 1992 when the Officer and Aircrew Selection Centre moved to RAF Cranwell. Today, the RAF's 75 year tenure at Biggin Hill and the 454 allied aircrew who were killed during WW2 while operating from the Biggin Hill Sector are commemorated in St George's Royal Air Force Chapel of Remembrance.

The Chapel, which is an active church, is situated on the Main Road (A233) north of Biggin Hill village. The entrance is flanked by full-scale replicas of a Hurricane and a Spitfire.

It was built and dedicated in 1951, replacing the first station church made in 1943 from 3 wartime huts and destroyed by fire in 1946. The present Chapel retains something of the internal appearance of the original church, and has an atmosphere of great tranquility and peace, but it is of course more ornately furnished and has exceptionally fine stained glass windows, designed by Hugh Easton, as well as a number of other interesting artefacts.

Some 12000 people visit the chapel each year, and in addition to regular weekly services, special commemorative services are held on Battle of Britain Sunday and Remembrance Sunday.

The Chapel is open daily always from 1100 to 1600 but these hours are extended in summer, please check with the curators office if you want to visit outside this period.

It is probably fair to say that Biggin Hill remains to spiritual home of all things Royal Air Force, in that it represents our 'finest hour'. There are other equally worthy locations such as Tangmere or West Malling, but in 1951 Biggin Hill was chosen. OASC and the military significance of the unit itself in the 21st century may have gone, but much can be gained in the future from maintaining links with the past.

Signed and passed on to several interested parties.

This may get a bit more publicity since it is mentioned in the Daily Wail (albeit spelt as Biggen Hill.)