The late Sir Douglas Bader has joined the likes of Siegfried Sassoon, Lord Nelson and Sir Winston Churchill by having a commemorative blue plaque unveiled at his former home.
The pilot, who refused to let the loss of both legs stop him taking to the skies in the Battle of Britain, was honoured in what has now become a familiar way in the capital.
Blue plaques are familiar to Londoners as the scheme dates back 140 years. A pilot extension of the scheme to other parts of the country only took place between 1998-2005 and then only in Merseyside, Birmingham, Portsmouth and Southampton.
The idea was first proposed by MP William Ewart in 1863 and it was soon to take off. By 1866, the Society of Arts (later the Royal Society of Arts) had founded an official scheme. The Society erected its first plaque – to the poet Lord Byron – in 1867. English Heritage has managed the scheme since 1986 and there are currently more than 800 across the country.
Crucially, the scheme is driven by public suggestions. In order to be eligible for consideration by the Blue Plaques Panel, a person must meet certain criteria: they must have been dead for 20 years or have passed the centenary of their birth, and a building associated with them must survive.
English Heritage welcomes all nominations that meet these criteria. So, which military figure would you recommend? Tell us who deserves a plaque and why.
For more information, visit
www.english-heritage.org.uk/blueplaques
Related article: Blue plaque commemorates Sir Douglas Bader
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