Memorial to air forces

Once again, The Times (May 12) has incorrectly referred to the Commonwealth Air Forces Memorial in Floriana as the "RAF Monument". This error appeared in the caption that accompanied the pictures of the wreath-laying ceremony held there recently. If this (and other), inaccuracies are allowed to continue unchallenged, then there is a real risk of the myth eventually becoming acknowledged and entrenched as "historical fact" in popular tradition.

The use of the title "RAF" appertains only to the "Royal Air Force" of the United Kingdom and therefore automatically excludes any other air force - regardless of its being that of a Commonwealth nation or not.

As such, it cannot (and should not) be adopted as a generic term for all air forces that use the prefix "Royal" as part of their title, that is the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF), the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF), etc, which are all autonomous institutions of sovereign nations. It should also be noted that the air force of the Netherlands also uses the prefix "Royal" as part of it title.

As already explained in a letter published by The Times on October 2 last year, if the memorial were really the "RAF Monument", then there would be no scope for the names of Commonwealth airmen to be commemorated on it. Right from the start, the memorial has always been known as the "Commonwealth Air Forces Memorial" and is indeed mentioned as such in various serious publications. Indeed, despite calling it the "RAF Monument", the caption acknowledges that the memorial commemorates airmen from Commonwealth countries and therefore contradicts itself on the grounds given above.

Just for the record, I should also point out that while a commemorative wreath-laying ceremony is held at the Commonwealth Air Forces Memorial on May 11 each year, the actual inauguration of the memorial by Queen Elizabeth II was held on Monday, May 3, 1954.