City finally keeps promise to honour Spitfire squadron

The granite memorial, inscribed with the Glasgow squadron's battle honours, will be unveiled later this month in the grounds of the city's Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum.

The 602 (City of Glasgow) Squadron was one of the most famous of the Spitfire squadrons that took part in the Battle of the Britain between July and October 1940 and was the first to shoot down a German bomber. By the end of the war, it also had one of the highest kill rates.

One of the surviving members of the squadron, Joe Parker, 92, who served as ground crew with 602, will be at the ceremony on June 25, along with friends and family of the pilots.

The unveiling will be performed by Lord Provost Sadie Docherty, fulfilling the promise of her wartime predecessor Sir Patrick Dollan 70 years ago.

The memorial, which has been paid for by the 602 (City of Glasgow) Squadron Museum on Sauchiehall Street and a number of other donors, is made from granite and reads "In honour of those who gave their today for our tomorrow" followed by the Latin phrase "Per Adua Ad Astra", which means "Through adversity to the stars".

It will have a permanent home outside Kelvingrove, where one of 602's Spitfires hangs from the ceiling and is one of the most popular exhibits.

Roddy MacGregor, secretary of the 602 Squadron Museum Association, said he was delighted Glasgow's promise was finally being kept. He said: "In 1941, Sir Patrick Dollan, Lord Provost of Glasgow, said 'some day the city should provide a suitable memorial to the gallantry of the pilots of 602 Squadron', but after the war it was forgotten about."

Mr MacGregor said it was also sometimes forgotten how critical 602 was to the war effort. "When war broke out, they were sent down to join the Battle of Britain and had one of the best records of the war," he said.

"They shot down more German planes than many other squadrons with less loss of life. At first it was a gentlemen's club but later there was a wide range of pilots. And there were some very colourful characters."

The squadron's last surviving pilot, 94-year-old Nigel Rose, who will not be able to travel to the ceremony from his home in Essex, said the memorial was excellent news. "I'm very pleased," he said. "I just wish there were more people there to join in and I will think of those who aren't there.

"The memorial has been a long time coming – it's overdue but welcome."

Mr Rose, who was 21 when he first flew for 602 and went on an average of three to four sorties a day, said he had happy memories of his colleagues in the squadron. "The squadron was my closest relationship in the RAF," he said. "There was great camaraderie and friendship."

Mr Rose has spoken about his first encounters with German fighters, and in his cottage in Essex still has the logbook in which he recorded all his flights. He says he and his fellow 602 pilots got on well together even though many were being killed. "It might sound strange now," he says, "but there simply was not time to grieve."

Mr Rose's colleague Mr Parker also has happy memories of the squadron, and great sadness at the loss of friends. "My greatest memory is of the bond that was formed by the original auxiliary members," he said. "We had seen the Squadron develop from peacetime to war and it gave a good account of itself. Bonds like that are never broken."

Mr Parker is also a great admirer of the courage of the pilots, including the famously tough Glaswegian Hector MacLean. When pilots from 602 were the first to shoot down a German plane, Mr Parker was one of the first on the scene. The Heinkel came down in the Pentland Hills on 28 October, 1939.

"The crew were still alive and had their hands up," he said.

"We asked for their guns and they handed them over. One of the Germans said to me, 'For me the war is over. For you the war goes on...'" For many years, Mr Parker kept a piece of the German plane as a souvenir.

Mr Parker, who lives in the Erskine Veterans' Home, said he was looking forward to attending the ceremony at Kelvingrove on June 25 and that a permanent memorial to 602 in Glasgow should have happened before now.

"It is an acknowledgement of the sacrifice these men made," he said.

"There has been no public acknowledgement of this sacrifice and they should have been given credit a long time ago."

Factfile

– The squadron was established on September 12, 1925 as part of the Auxiliary Air Force reserve unit.

– They moved to Abbotsinch, now Glasgow Airport, in January 1933. In April of that year, two of its pilots became the first men to fly over Everest.

– In May 1939, 602 became the first squadron in Britain to be equipped with Spitfires. A few weeks later, every member of the Auxiliary Air Force was called up in anticipation of war.

– In August 1940, the squadron moved from Abbotsinch to southern England to take part in the Battle of Britain, returning to operations in Scotland in December.

– In all, the squadron shot down 89 enemy aircraft during the Second World War.

– It disbanded on 15 May 1945 but, less than a year later, was reformed as a fighter unit of the Auxiliary Air Force at Abbotsinch.