​​​Hugh Dowding was born in 1882, he served in the British Army in the First World War and then the Royal Air Force from 1918-1942. He held the rank of Air Chief Marshal. In 1936 he had been appointed chief of the RAF Fighter Command. 

​He is credited for the defence given by the RAF Fighter Command during the ‘Battle of Britain.’ His management and deployment of fighters to intercept enemy action over the UK, he was instrumental in this. He also introduced the ‘Dowding System’ which involved the use of radar, air observers, anti aircraft defences plus fighter command. He would eventually retire in 1942 following conflicts with other senior RAF officers around the deployment of ‘Big Wing’ tactics. He died in 1970, his body was cremated and his ashes are now interned in Westminster Abbey. This is under the Battle of Britain Memorial Window in the Royal Air Force chapel. 

​The memorial plaques around the stone plinth offer further information of Dowding and Fighter Command. 

​Arthur Harris was born in 1892, he served in the British Army in the First World War and then the Royal Air Force from 1918-1946. He held the rank of Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief RAF Bomber Command. This was during the height of the Second World War and the allied bombing campaigns against Nazi Germany. He is also known as ‘Bomber Harris’. 

​Under his command the RAF would conduct ‘area bombing’ from 1942 which would bring destruction and death to many German cities and population. Prime Minister Churchill would press for advances in technology and tactics for more precision targeting, this could reduce civilian casualties. Harris was part of the process in advances towards ‘precision bombing’, however he preferred the ‘area’ tactic. His tactics over the years have become a point of debate, with raids such as Dresden. He retired in 1946 and died in 1984. He is buried in Goring upon Thames. He was the most senior RAF officer to not accept a peerage, this was due to his thoughts that his men had been snubbed of recognition and honour when serving directly in Bomber Command during the Second World War. 

​The memorial plaques around the stone plinth offer further information of Harris and Bomber Command.​