50 Years On

Surviving Battle of Britain veterans celebrate half a century since their finest hour at various locations in Kent - Britain's front line county during the Second World War

Alan Stingemore's film starts at RAF Hawkinge with views of derelict buildings, pill-boxes and pilots' gravestones. A Spitfire then starts up and takes to the skies. On Margate's seafront we see an RAF commander saluting a parade of RAF bands and veterans before an Avro Shackleton flies overhead. At a garden party in Canterbury, we see veterans mingling with guests of the Lord Mayor before the film ends at RAF Manston with a fly-past by the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight.

Between the 1950s and 1990s Alan Stingemore made a considerable number of films covering a wide variety of subjects with a particular emphasis on railways and cinemas. His films often capture memorable events like those shown in this film or last 'glimpses' of subjects that were about to disappear forever. During the 1980s Alan travelled throughout the region and beyond filming old cinemas, particularly if they were about to be demolished.These films form a fitting tribute to the memory of these buildings, often designed in the 'Moderne' or Art Deco style, which are now lost forever.