A COMMUNITY memorial garden honouring the lives of Teignmouth people was officially unveiled yesterday.

A new community memorial garden paying tribute to those who have fought, worked and died for the town was opened at the community college.

Famed seafarers, RAF pilots, teachers and merchant fishermen were remembered in a poignant ceremony on the principal's lawn.

The occasion included a RAF Sea King helicopter flypast, a two-minute silence, prayers and a semaphore drill.

The garden, complete with mast quarterdeck, is a memorial site for the town and will be used as a place of quiet contemplation and reflection.

A series of plaques, stones and a bench were unveiled and dedicated to the memory of people who have made a difference to the town.

The event was arranged by TS Canonteign Sea Cadets and Teignmouth Community College.

A key aspect was to mark the 70th anniversary of the Battle of Britain and to remember RAF Sergeant and Acting Pilot Officer Gerald Edworthy, a former pupil of the college — then called Teignmouth Secondary School — who died fighting in the Battle of Britain.

He was shot down and killed while attacking enemy bomber formations over the Thames Estuary on September 3, 1940.

Guests included local dignitaries, councillors, church members, the combined cadet forces and staff and students of the college.

VIP guests included decorated Battle of Britain Spitfire pilot Group Captain Billy Drake, now aged 93, and the High Sheriff of Devon Elizabeth d'Erlanger, a direct descendant of Admiral Edward Pellew.

Captain Drake laid a wreath on the Edworthy memorial stone and Mrs d'Erlanger unveiled the Pellow Stone in honour of her ancestor.

College principal Tony Gray and the Bishop of Crediton the Right Rev Bob Evens unveiled the garden and mast quarterdeck.

The Bishop said: "We don't know what Gerald's last words or thoughts were amid the noise and commotion of planes wheeling across the sky in a frantic struggle for life and death, but we hold him in our thoughts and prayers."

School students read Battle of Britain reports from the RAF archives and college staff laid flowers on a bench dedicated to teachers Philip Howell Jones, who died in September 2008, and John Smiddy, who died in May 2009.

Mr Gray said: "Today has been a wonderful occasion and a landmark in the history of Teignmouth Community College."

Stones commemorating those who fell in the Battle of Trafalgar and those who have died working in Teignmouth's maritime merchant and fishing fleets also feature in the garden.

TS Canonteign Sea Cadets trustees chairman Nicholas Maylam said afterwards: "It was an excellent service. A lot of hard work has gone into it by a lot of people. It brings the school together with the community and vice versa."