In May, the nation will be marking the 80th anniversary of the Battle of the Atlantic with a four day programme of commemorative events in Liverpool including a flypast by Swordfish W5856 over the unveiling of the Battle of the Atlantic Memorial.
The campaign against the U boat threat was the hardest fought victory in history and it raged with ruthless intensity for the entire six years of the war. It was the most protracted and bitterly fought sea and air campaign in which Allied Forces have ever been engaged. The stakes were perilously high. By February 1942 allied shipping losses by U-boat attack were so great that the UK’s lifeline of food, oil and military supplies was in grave danger of being cut. The country was losing the logistics battle to continue the fight in Europe and could barely feed its own starvation level civilians, let alone support the millions of extra men needed to undertake an invasion.
The Battle of the Atlantic Memorial charity has unveiled its new vision for the UK’s official memorial to the longest running battle of World War II. Work is underway on a series of new initiatives set to be unveiled in Liverpool, the command headquarters of the battle, during the weekend of 26-28 May 2023.
You can find out more about the Battle of the Atlantic Memorial via the link below.
The commemorations will conclude at precisely 19.43 hours on Sunday May 28th, with the attending merchant ships and Navy warships leading a convoy down the Mersey, while Beating Retreats are performed on both shores of the river.