A baton commemorating the 100 year anniversary of the Royal Air Force paid a visit to Stanmore’s Bentley Priory, which is now home to an RAF museum on Monday, April 2.
The baton, which is made of the three key materials for constructing aircraft – aluminium, wood and brass, is being taken to every region of the United Kingdom as well as some overseas locations including the Falklands, Washington DC and Afghanistan as part of a relay that will take place over a 100 day period.
It was designed to celebrate the centenary of the RAF and was brought to Stanmore on day two of its tour to honour the role Bentley Priory played during the Second World War and in particular in the Battle of Britain between 1940 and 1941 when the RAF defended the country against large-scale attacks by the Luftwaffe.
The idea of the baton relay originally began as an orienteering challenge and still has a significant element of that involved, with each baton carrier being given just a start and end point requiring the volunteers to work out the rest.
The Mayor of Harrow was in attendance at Bentley Priory, as was MP Bob Blackman and over 200 museum visitors. Arriving by bicycle, the baton team had cycled from the RAF Museum in Hendon.
Museum Director, Eleanor Pulfer-Sharma said: “We are proud to be able to tell some of the Royal Air Force’s important history within our Museum and were delighted to welcome the RAF 100 baton team to the Museum as part of the national celebrations of the RAF’s centenary.
“The RAF 100 baton’s visit to the Museum launched the Museum’s own centenary celebrations, which include a temporary exhibition on the RAF’s technical innovation & a new concert Flying without Feathers by Tonic Choir in April & May.”
Picture Courtesy of RAFOrienteering Twitter
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