Bomber Command Memorial?

Where would it go in Lincolnshire though?
Conningsby perhaps?
Waddington?
East Kirkby?
A bigger one in the grounds of Lincoln Cathedral?
One of the many ex RAF bases?
The possibilities are endless.

Coningsby could be a good place, it could go in the car park for the BBMF, at least it would get some protection lol 😀

Bomber Command Memorial

There should be a Bomber Command memorial. It is an omission that must be corrected, whatever the chosen location. As to that location, I flew from those old bomber airfields in the 1960s and ’70s. Our aircraft bore no squadron markings in those days on centralised servicing, but we did have the badge of the City and County of Lincoln on the fin.

It was also a significant period as by 1970 the war had been over 25 years. Many of those who had served at those airfields had gone home and picked up their lives again and now with the family off their hands they came back. We had a steady stream of Australians, Canadians and many others turning up at the guardroom asking if they could come and see the old places once more. After a few quick checks a duty crew from one of the squadrons would be despatched to pick them up and escort them around. They turned up not only at the active stations but at the other ones, I met a couple in Metheringham, where I lived at the time.

It was a privilege to meet these men, to be there as they remembered, perhaps to help them lay their ghosts. To have one’s wife tell me that he had never spoken of his time in Bomber Command before. To see the visible emotion that followed when they were taken into the hangar to see
PA474, then based at Waddington. I know that this occurred at other stations outside Lincolnshire, I recall the Canadian reunions at Middleton St George. However my point is that it was to the airfields that they returned, not London, not Runnymede.

Lincolnshire is synonymous with the RAF and the links still exist today. It is there that the memorial should be situated.

exmpa

Bomber Boys Memorial

More debate here;
Bomber Boys Memorial forum

duly signed time they woke up and smelt the coffee

Signed with pleasure. And I pressed the ‘sign’ button very firmly too.

I was thinking a combined and accessible Allied RAF/(8th)USAAF bomber memorial might be good.

I do hope the old arguments about bombing don’t resurface to the extent that it spoils the core issue about the crews.

Signed.

Disagree Dean – as a national memorial it should be in the nation’s capitol where due homage can be paid rather where just the locals will see it and veterans might struggle to get to.

Roger Smith.

It should be in London where it will have a higher profile, similar to the Battle of Britain memorial on the embankment.

I think at the moment the statue of “Bomber” Harris outside St Clements has become the unofficial memorial to Bomber Command in London.

PeterW

lol yeah they are, it’s the “Lincoln eye” at the moment 😀

The Lincolnshire Echo had a field day with it lol Although it was only like that for a week or two.

yes – they’re always outraged by something….:D

Yes it was partly that, however when I first went (took and elderly relative of mine) it wasn’t just fenced off, it was behind what I describe as a plethera of furniture and bit and bobs 😀

The Lincolnshire Echo had a field day with it lol Although it was only like that for a week or two.

That’s a good point.
There is already the Lincoln Cathedral one as has been stated, and although at first it shared it’s position with a storage area *rolls eyes* it was clear when I went to see it it.

petition signed,

to be fair to the Cathedral, I believe – and correct me if Im wrong – that the reason it was behind the barriers is that work was not 100% finished on the deans eye rose window which is overhead and that the area at the foot was a work area and kept free of people for safety reasons. If people asked specially they could quietly look under supervision if it was practical.

In the UK, is there a USAAF memorial for their wartime air forces?

There’s the Counting the Cost Memorial Sculpture at Duxford – very moving that.

In the UK, is there a USAAF memorial for their wartime air forces?

Disagree Dean – as a national memorial it should be in the nation’s capitol where due homage can be paid rather where just the locals will see it and veterans might struggle to get to.

Roger Smith.

An interesting thought Roger, but I was working on the premise that a lot of the veterans ‘are’ locals and would maybe struggle getting to the capital! That maybe an incorrect assumption on my part, as I don’t have the stats – it would be interesting to know what percentage of bomber crews actually came from the Lincolnshire & Yorkshire areas. My Uncle lived in Lincolnshire but was stationed at Breighton in Yorkshire; albeit very briefly, before sadly becoming one of the 55,573.

There’s quite a lengthy thread on the debate over on PPRuNe http://www.pprune.org/forums/showthread.php?t=296590

Some veterans have suggested either Lincolnshire or the ‘National’ Memorial Arboretum in Alrewas. One veteran was quoted as saying “When I think of Bomber Command, I think of Lincolnshire!” A sentiment, I’m sure, that is echoed by many.

I can see this being a lengthy one.

Dean.

Disagree Dean – as a national memorial it should be in the nation’s capitol where due homage can be paid rather where just the locals will see it and veterans might struggle to get to.

Roger Smith.

That’s a good point.
There is already the Lincoln Cathedral one as has been stated, and although at first it shared it’s position with a storage area *rolls eyes* it was clear when I went to see it it.

So those who make the journey up here get to see the cathedral as well as the memorial, plus many of the WWII air fields (at least the ones I know) have their own memorials, the East Kirkby, Fiskerton, Metheringham, Woodhall and Bardney ones are particulally nice.

Duly signed.

Chris

….Think it should be up here though, close to all the Bomber Command stations in Lincolnshire and Yorkshire. Dean.

Disagree Dean – as a national memorial it should be in the nation’s capitol where due homage can be paid rather where just the locals will see it and veterans might struggle to get to.

Roger Smith.

Signed, with pleasure.

I couldn’t agree more – duly signed.

Think it should be up here though, close to all the Bomber Command stations in Lincolnshire and Yorkshire.

Dean.