Location: Home > News > 50th Anniversary of the Astronomical Clock
50th Anniversary of the Astronomical Clock
Published: on 27th October 2005 by Eleanor Course in Press Releases
On Tuesday 1 November a service will be held at noon in York Minster to mark the 50th Anniversary of the unveiling of the Astronomical Clock. The Astronomical Clock is a memorial to honour the 18,000 airmen who died whilst serving with the Royal Air Force, Women’s Auxiliary Air Force and the Air Forces of the Commonwealth together with their Allies in Yorkshire, Durham & Northumberland, during the Second World War.
York RAFA will parade at 1100, A 9 aircraft flypast of RAF Linton on Ouse Tucanos will fly over the Minster at 1130 and the service begins at noon.
During the service the Lord Lieutenant of North Yorkshire, Lord Crathorne, will turn a page in the Book of Remembrance, which stands in front of the Clock. This book lists the names of those 18,000 airmen from North Yorkshire killed in action in the Second World War. As part of the service, the Air Training Corps Cadets will commit themselves to keeping the tradition of turning the pages of the book, and remembering former comrades, ensuring that the memory of those who fell will be honoured for many years to come.
The Astronomical Clock was originally dedicated on Ist November 1955, by HRH The Duke of Edinburgh. The memorial took the form of an Astronomical Clock in tribute to the airmen who needed to find their way in the trackless sky. The Clock demonstrates the precise position of the sun and the ‘fixed’ stars in relation to the centre of York at all times of the day and throughout the year, and is accurate to within one minute. The clock and its mechanism are contained within a walnut wood frame designed by Professor A E Richardson, President of the Royal Academy.
The RAF Association has distributed tickets to relatives of those who are named in the Book of Remembrance, but seats will be available on the day for members of the public who wish to attend.