Monument: Royal Canadian Air Force - WW2 HQ, monument
Canada Walk
Here in a building opposite at 20 Lincoln's Inn Fields was the Headquarters of the Royal Canadian Air Force in Great Britain during the second World War. This Headquarters provided central support to some 85,000 Canadian personnel who served in 48 RCAF Squadrons and with numerous RAF units. In all, 14,455 Canadian airmen made the supreme sacrifice while serving overseas.
This monument is in Lincoln's Inn Square garden, opposite the building at number 20.
Site: Royal Canadian Air Force - WW2 HQ (4 memorials)
WC1, Lincoln's Inn Fields, 20 - 28
This is now a 3-part memorial: a building to the north of Lincoln's Inn Fields and, in the public gardens, a small monument and a tree, all three having their own plaque in English and French. In our photograph the building can be seen behind the memorial and the tree (outside the picture) is the other side of the path. The tree, the monument and its short ceremonial path line up, pointing at the door of the building.
The ceremonial planting of the now unmarked 1946 tree was brought to our attention by Benjamin Moogk via Facebook. He sent us two links to British Pathe films on Youtube: film 1, film 2 the first of which gives a close up of the plaque.
Certainly the plaque is gone, but the tree survived - planted between the road and the path and slightly to the east of the building entrance there is a tree with maple-shaped leaves and, with a girth appropriate, as far as we can guess, for 70 years of growth.
