RAF Airmen in Torquay

It might seem a little odd for a hilly port without even the possibility of every having an airport built there but during the Second World War 55000 airmen were trained in Torquay. Many billeted in the Rosetor Hotel during their stay, and like the US Coastguard officers at Greenway House, they left their mark in this case by signing one of the shutters. When the Rosetor was demolished to make way for the Riviera Centre this shutter was saved by Ian Sampson. On his death in 2009 the shutter was to be donated to the Imperial War Museum to be displayed, but when it was found that the museum planned to simply lock it away in a drawer his friends rallied around to make sure that the spirit of his gift was honoured, and so it on the 22nd of April it was put on public display in the Rivera Centre itself close to where it was originally signed by those men 70 years ago.