“At the going down of the sun…”: Bomber Command memorial unveil by The Queen

On 28 June HM The Queen unveiled a memorial in London’s Green Park to the aircrew of RAF Bomber Command who lost their lives serving their country. The completion of the memorial was the culmination of a long campaign to mark the sacrifice of the 55,573 aircrew who died during World War Two, and whose contribution to the allied victory had not, many felt, been adequately remembered.

According to the RAF Benevolent Fund, which took over the maintenance of the memorial at its opening: “The omission of a memorial in London to the staggering number of…aircrew who died serving with Bomber Command in the Second World War has long been a source of disappointment to surviving veterans, and the families of those who served.”

The memorial was designed by Liam O’Connor, who is particularly known for his design of the Armed Forces Memorial in Alrewas, Staffordshire. Its centrepiece is a 9ft-high bronze sculpture depicting a seven-man bomber crew returning to base after operations. The sculpture has been designed so as to be visible by visitors against the sky – day or night – through an opening created in the roof to allow light fall onto the statue.

The roof itself, installed by FTMRC member Martin UK, is predominantly copper, but incorporates sections of aluminium recovered from a Halifax bomber shot down over Belgium in May 1944, in which eight crew were killed.
The design of the memorial is classical, in tune with the surrounding architecture, and has been constructed from Portland stone.

Eric Bignell, editor of Natural Stone Specialist, wrote: “Liam O'Connor has paid attention to every detail of the structure and used the Portland limestone of which it is built in a traditional way with traditional detailing that is designed to throw off water and keep the stone looking bright and attractive as it weathers.”

The controller of the RAF Benevolent Fund, Sir Rob Wright, said: “It is a great honour for us to become custodians of the memorial, a lasting monument to these incredibly brave men who showed astonishing courage in the most terrifying conditions. They are more than deserving of this permanent memorial and we are proud to maintain it in their honour.”

• The RFBF is appealing for donation to fund the upkeep of the memorial, at www.rafbf.org/1794/bomber-command-memorial.html.

Article and images reproduced with the kind permission and cooperation of the Roofing Contractor for the Bomber Command Project, Dave Martin of Martin UK. Further examples of high quality metal roofing can be found on his website HERE.

Martin UK
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