The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall commemorate the Battle of Britain, 18 September 2005

Marking the 65th anniversary of the Battle of Britain, The Prince of Wales has unveiled a permanent memorial to the bravery of the wartime RAF in overcoming enormous odds to defeat the Luftwaffe in 1940.

Those directly involved in aerial combat were not the only ones honoured; tribute was also paid to those on the ground whose contribution has often been overlooked.

A bronze frieze on one side of the granite monument depicts the heroism of 2,936 air crew, drawn from 15 countries, whilst a frieze on the reverse pays homage to the men and women who performed an array of vital ground-based tasks, from the "ack ack" gunners to the mechanics responsible for keeping the Hurricanes and Spitfires airworthy.

Before unveiling the memorial on London's Victoria Embankment, The Prince of Wales remembered how his parents and grandmother told him of life during the Battle of Britain when there were dogfights in the skies, enemy aircraft flew up the Mall and German bombers crashed in Windsor Great Park.

"For today's generation it is difficult to imagine how dangerous and bleak the situation was in the summer of 1940," the Prince remarked. "It seemed almost inevitable that this country would succumb to Nazi aggression."

Almost 550 pilots died in the battle, which was fought during the summer of 1940. Their names are engraved on one side of the monument.

His Royal Highness added that the unveiling was particularly poignant to him as man of the pilots were very young, "many so very much younger than my sons are now."

They included Ricky Wright from East Coker, Somerset, who reached the rank of air commodore when he retired from the RAF. In 1940 he was a flight sergeant and a member of 605 Squadron.

By the end of the war he was credited with seven "hits" and his achievements were marked with the award of a Distinguished Flying Cross and Distinguished Flying Medal.

Those on the ground included Jean Shrimpton from Bletchley Park in Buckinghamshire. She started the war making children's gas masks, before becoming a gunner - who downed one Luftwaffe aircraft. "I think the monument is wonderful - it shows what contribution we made."

Earlier in the day The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall attended a special service at Westminster Abbey. During an act of remembrance, Ron Hesketh, the RAF's Chaplain in Chief, urged the congregation to recall "those whose sacrifices were just as great".