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Post date: Sep 16, 2015 8:58:11 PM
This year marks the 75th Anniversary of the Battle of Britain, the RAF's finest hour, and a Cleethorpes man has been given the honour of designing the Royal Air Forces Association’s official Battle of Britain commemorative medals.
George Wright (22), a former student at Matthew Humberstone School and Franklin College, gained a First Class Honours degree in Product Design at the University of Lincoln and has been working as an Assistant Product Manager at the London Mint Office since October 2014.
He has been working on and leading a variety of new strike and heritage projects, taking responsibility for developing concepts on design, packaging and supporting literature and looking after the financial planning for projects.
George’s stunning designs include the commemorative medal (pictured above), displaying the Royal Air Force crest and iconic Hurricanes and Spitfires and featuring a full colour RAF roundel. It is inscribed with the names of the sixteen countries who took part in the Battle of Britain, as well as the names of all the roles that make up the RAF as we know it today. Layered in pure silver, 250,000 of the medals are available for free to members of the public from the London Mint Office on a first come first served basis.
Another of his designs is a gold medal featuring the Supermarine Spitfire and George (pictured first left) was delighted to get the opportunity to see one up close at Biggin Hill recently when Daily Mail reporter Robert Hardman took £1.1 million worth of commemorative medals and gold sovereigns up in a Spitfire which, although not involved in the Battle of Britain, saw plenty of action later in the war.
Whilst he would have liked to go up in the Spitfire himself, George was able to look inside the plane’s claustrophobic cockpit and see why it was described as “not an aircraft that you get into but an aircraft that you put on”.
Speaking of his pride at being involved in the project, George said,
“Seventy five years ago, the skies above Britain played host to the most significant aerial battle the world had ever seen. It is a privilege to know that seventy five years on I have played a part in developing a seventy fifth anniversary commemorative to celebrate the nations and people that contributed to the Battle of Britain. It is crucial we remember not just the sacrifice of the few but also the many.”
Click here for more details about the Royal Air Forces Association’s free commemorative medal
Read articles by George on the London Mint Office blog here
Read Robert Hardman’s account of his Spitfire flight here
Photographs courtesy of the London Mint Office
Article by Rachel Branson (Friends of Cleethorpes Heritage)
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