# RAF Bomber Command Memorial > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/RAF_Bomber_Command_Memorial > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/RAF_Bomber_Command_Memorial.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Bomber_Command_Memorial > Source revision: 1336713212 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Memorial in Green Park, London}} {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2017}} {{Use British English|date=November 2017}} {{Infobox Military Memorial |name=RAF Bomber Command Memorial |country=[United Kingdom](/source/United_Kingdom) |body= |image=London RAF Bomber Command Memorial.JPG |caption=Sculpture within the memorial |commemorates=the 55,573 aircrew of RAF Bomber Command who died during the Second World War |use_dates= |coordinates= {{coord|51|30|12|N|0|8|56|W|region:GB_type:landmark|display=inline,title}} |location=[Green Park](/source/Green_Park), London W1, United Kingdom |nearest_town= |designer=[Liam O'Connor](/source/Liam_O'Connor_(architect)) (memorial)
[Philip Jackson](/source/Philip_Jackson_(sculptor)) (sculpture) |inscription=Freedom is the sure possession of those alone who have the courage to defend it |established= |unveiled={{Start date and age|2012|06|28|df=yes}} |source= }} The '''Royal Air Force Bomber Command Memorial''' is a memorial in [Green Park](/source/Green_Park), London, commemorating the crews of [RAF Bomber Command](/source/RAF_Bomber_Command) who embarked on missions during the [Second World War](/source/World_War_II).{{cite news |title=Kiwi WWII veterans to attend London memorial |url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10816167 |newspaper=New Zealand Herald |date=28 June 2012 |access-date=28 June 2012}} The memorial, on the south side of [Piccadilly](/source/Piccadilly), facing [Hyde Park Corner](/source/Hyde_Park_Corner), was built to mark the sacrifice of 55,573 aircrew from Britain, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Poland, Czechoslovakia and other allied countries,{{cite web|url=http://www.rafinfo.org.uk/BCWW2Losses/BC-RoH-casstats.htm|access-date=7 September 2019|title=RAF Bomber Command Losses of the Second World War}} as well as civilians of all nations killed during raids.{{cite web |url=http://www.rafbf.org/1794/bomber-command-memorial.html |title=The Aircrew of Bomber Command |year=2012 |publisher=Royal Air Force Benevolent Fund |access-date=28 June 2012}} [Queen Elizabeth II](/source/Elizabeth_II) unveiled the memorial on 28 June 2012, in the year of [her Diamond Jubilee](/source/Diamond_Jubilee_of_Elizabeth_II).{{cite news |title=Queen unveils RAF Bomber Command memorial |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-18600871 |newspaper=BBC News |date=28 June 2012 |access-date=28 June 2012}} ==History== {{main|Strategic bombing during World War II}} Following [World War II](/source/World_War_II) the legacy of Bomber Command proved controversial, with both legal and ethical arguments highlighting the indiscriminate nature of strategic bombing. During World War II, many military strategists of [air power](/source/air_power) believed that air forces could win major victories by attacking industrial and political [infrastructure](/source/infrastructure), rather than purely military targets. Strategic bombing often involved bombing areas inhabited by [civilians](/source/Non-combatant), and some campaigns were deliberately designed to target civilian populations in order to [terrorize](/source/Terrorism) them or to weaken their [morale](/source/morale). Although [International law](/source/International_law) at the outset of World War II did not specifically forbid the aerial bombardment of cities, the scale of the destruction and of civilian casualties proved to be a distasteful memory of the conflict. The controversy meant that an official memorial to the aircrews was not erected until nearly 70 years after the war. An appeal was made for {{£|5.6|link=yes}}{{nbsp}}million (equivalent to £{{Inflation|UK|5.6|2012|r=1}}{{nbsp}}million in {{Inflation/year|UK}}) to build the memorial, and funding came from donations made by the public. Musicians [Robin Gibb](/source/Robin_Gibb) (The Bee Gees) and Jim Dooley ([The Dooleys](/source/The_Dooleys)) became key figures behind the appeal, working to raise funds and have the memorial built.{{cite news |title=Bee Gees singer Robin Gibb's War Memorial Campaign |last=Barling |first=Kurt |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-18149345 |work=[BBC News](/source/BBC_News) |date=21 May 2012 |access-date=28 June 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404111651/https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-18149345 |archive-date=2023-04-04 |url-status=live}} ==Design== thumb|left|Exterior of the memorial in 2013. [Liam O'Connor](/source/Liam_O'Connor_(architect)) designed the memorial, built of [Portland stone](/source/Portland_stone), which features a bronze {{convert|9|ft|adj=on}} sculpture of seven aircrew, designed by the sculptor [Philip Jackson](/source/Philip_Jackson_(sculptor)) to look as though they have just returned from a bombing mission and left their aircraft. Aluminium from a [Royal Canadian Air Force](/source/Royal_Canadian_Air_Force) [Handley Page Halifax](/source/Handley_Page_Halifax) of [No. 426 Squadron](/source/426_Transport_Training_Squadron) that had crashed in Schendelbeke in Belgium in May 1944 was used to build the roof of the memorial, which was designed to evoke the geodetic structure of the [Vickers Wellington](/source/Vickers_Wellington). The Halifax, LW682 OW/M, had been removed from a swamp in 1997 with three of the crew found still at their posts. They were buried with full military honours in [Geraardsbergen](/source/Geraardsbergen) and the remains of the aircraft were sent to Canada. Some of the metal was used for the restoration of a Halifax in [Trenton, Ontario](/source/Trenton%2C_Ontario), and the rest was melted down by the [Bomber Command Museum of Canada](/source/Bomber_Command_Museum_of_Canada) in [Nanton, Alberta](/source/Nanton%2C_Alberta). The Museum provided [ingot](/source/ingot)s for the memorial to commemorate the 10,659 Canadians out of a total of 55,573 Bomber Command aircrew killed during the war.{{cite web |url=http://www.bombercommand.com/in-the-press/memorial-update-5 |title=Memorial Update No 5 |year=2012 |publisher=Bomber Command Memorial Appeal |access-date=30 June 2012}}{{cite web|url=http://www.bombercommandmuseum.ca/memorialgranite.html|website=Bomber Command Museum of Canada|access-date=28 January 2016|title=Canada's Bomber Command Memorial|archive-date=24 June 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160624152813/http://www.bombercommandmuseum.ca/memorialgranite.html|url-status=dead}} Furthermore, some of this aluminium was supplied to the [International Bomber Command Centre](/source/International_Bomber_Command_Centre), which opened in [Lincoln, England](/source/Lincoln%2C_England) in 2018, and forms the rear plate of its "Additions Panel". thumb|Interior view of the memorial's aluminium roof On both walls inside the monument there are inscriptions that read: {{blockquote| THIS MEMORIAL IS DEDICATED TO THE 55,573 AIRMEN/ FROM THE UNITED KINGDOM, BRITISH COMMONWEALTH/ & ALLIED NATIONS WHO SERVED IN/ RAF BOMBER COMMAND & LOST THEIR LIVES OVER/ THE COURSE OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR{{citation|mode=cs1|url=https://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/63032|title=Bomber Command|work=War Memorials Register|publisher=Imperial War Museums|access-date=23 January 2024}} }} and, on the opposite wall: {{blockquote| THE FIGHTERS ARE OUR SALVATION BUT THE/ BOMBERS ALONE PROVIDE THE MEANS OF VICTORY/ WINSTON CHURCHILL SEPTEMBER 1940 }} The inside face of the [architrave](/source/architrave) to the rear of the statues carries the inscription: {{blockquote| THIS MEMORIAL ALSO COMMEMORATES THOSE OF ALL NATIONS WHO LOST THEIR LIVES IN THE BOMBING OF 1939–1945 }} The large plinth carrying the statues bears the inscription: {{blockquote| HM QUEEN ELIZABETH II/ UNVEILED THIS MEMORIAL/ 28 JUNE/ IN THE YEAR OF HER DIAMOND JUBILEE/ 2012 }} The rear face has a quotation from [Pericles's Funeral Oration](/source/Pericles's_Funeral_Oration):{{citation|mode=cs1|url=https://aeon.co/essays/there-is-a-sting-in-the-tale-we-use-to-remember-the-fallen|title=Monumental folly|first=Neville|last=Morley|website=Aeon|date=22 October 2012|access-date=25 January 2024}} {{blockquote| FREEDOM IS THE SURE POSSESSION OF THOSE ALONE WHO/ HAVE THE COURAGE TO DEFEND IT/ PERICLES }} ==Since opening== [[File:BBMF Lancaster Bomber Preparing for Take Off MOD 45154145.jpg|thumb|left|[Avro Lancaster PA474](/source/Avro_Lancaster_PA474) carrying 800,000 poppies, taking off from [RAF Coningsby](/source/RAF_Coningsby) on 28 June 2012 for the opening ceremony]] Queen Elizabeth II formally opened the memorial on 28 June 2012, unveiling the bronze sculpture. The ceremony was attended by 6,000 veterans and family members of those killed, and the [Avro Lancaster](/source/Avro_Lancaster) of the [Battle of Britain Memorial Flight](/source/Battle_of_Britain_Memorial_Flight) dropped [red poppy petals](/source/Remembrance_poppy) over Green Park.{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/memorial-to-bomber-command-unveiled-in-green-park-7896405.html |title=Memorial to Bomber Command unveiled in Green Park |last=Sengupta |first=Kim |date=28 June 2012 |newspaper=The Independent |access-date=28 June 2012 |location=London}} In May 2013 the memorial was vandalised. The word "[Islam](/source/Islam)" was spray-painted on the memorial and on the nearby [Animals in War Memorial](/source/Animals_in_War_Memorial) in Hyde Park.{{cite news| url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-22678874 | work=BBC News | title=Vandals deface war memorials in London parks | date=27 May 2013}} In March 2015, [Les Munro](/source/Les_Munro), [Royal New Zealand Air Force](/source/Royal_New_Zealand_Air_Force) squadron leader and one of the last surviving members of the [Dambusters Raid](/source/Operation_Chastise), intended to sell his war medals and flight logbook at auction to raise funds for the upkeep of the memorial. The auction was cancelled after [Michael Ashcroft](/source/Michael_Ashcroft) donated £75,000 ({{Inflation|UK|75000|2015|fmt=eq|cursign=£|r=-2}}) to the [Royal Air Force Benevolent Fund](/source/RAF_Benevolent_Fund) towards the upkeep, with a further [NZ$](/source/New_Zealand_dollar)19,500 donated by the [Museum of Transport and Technology](/source/Museum_of_Transport_and_Technology) in [Auckland](/source/Auckland), New Zealand, to whom Munro then offered his medals for display.{{cite news|last1=Wilson|first1=Libby|title=Deal keeps Dambuster medals in NZ|work=[The Press](/source/The_Press)|date=25 March 2015|page=A4}} Munro, aged 96, died that August.{{cite news | url=http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/70818274/les-munro-last-surviving-dam-buster-dies.html | work=[Stuff.co.nz](/source/Stuff.co.nz) | title=New Zealand loses a 'remarkable man' with death of Les Munro; John Key says | date=4 August 2015 | access-date=4 August 2015 | first1=Rachel |last1=Thomas | first2=Libby |last2=Wilson}} ==See also== * [International Bomber Command Centre](/source/International_Bomber_Command_Centre) * ''[On Freedom's Wings](/source/On_Freedom's_Wings)'' ==Notes== {{Notelist}} ==References== {{Reflist}} ==External links== {{Commons category|RAF Bomber Command Memorial}} * [https://www.rafbf.org/bomber-command-memorial Bomber Command Memorial website] * [http://426sqdn.ca/remembrances/halifax_lw682.html Halifax LW682] * [http://426sqdn.ca/remembrances/geraardsbergen.html Geraardsbergen Memorial] * [http://www.bombercommandmuseum.ca/ Bomber Command Museum of Canada] {{Public art in London|other monuments}} {{Philip Jackson}} Category:Buildings and structures completed in 2012 Category:World War II memorials in London Category:Royal Air Force memorials Category:Tourist attractions in the City of Westminster Category:Buildings and structures in the City of Westminster Category:Buildings and structures in Green Park Category:2012 establishments in England Category:Sculptures by Philip Jackson Category:Aviation art Category:2012 in London Category:Monuments and memorials to aviators --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [RAF Bomber Command Memorial](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Bomber_Command_Memorial) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Bomber_Command_Memorial?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.