Stories

A visitor to the UK will quickly become aware of the large collection of war memorials and tributes – from both famous and less well-known campaigns.

Amongst tributes from World War Two, “the Few” of the Battle of Britain have two monuments, in Kent and in London; the Merchant Navy’s memorial is at Tower Hill, London; the Desert Rats are commemorated at Thetford in Norfolk; Liverpool has a statue dedicated to those who crewed the ships of the Atlantic convoys, and there is another in Murmansk marking those lost in the Arctic convoys.

So why did it take until 2012 for the 55,573 bomber crew members killed to be remembered by permanent memorial?

Perhaps it began when Churchill famously failed to mention Bomber Command in his victory speech praising the Armed Forces. An absence that was noted and hurt surviving aircrew.

Seemingly sentiment had changed. In September 1940, the first anniversary of the beginning of the Second World War, Churchill said in a memo to the Cabinet: “The Navy can lose us the war but only the Air Force can win it…. The Fighters are our salvation… but the Bombers alone provide the means of victory.”

Historians will debate the absence of recognition, was it deliberate or an oversight – a week later a telegram from Churchill to Bomber Harris, dated 15 May 1945 suggested a different sentiment:

Now that Nazi Germany is defeated, I wish to express to you on behalf of His Majesty’s Government the deep sense of gratitude which is felt by all the Nation for the glorious part which has been played by Bomber Command in forging the Victory.

For over two years, Bomber Command alone carried the war to the heart of Germany, bringing hope to the peoples of occupied Europe, and to the enemy a foretaste of the mighty power which was rising against him. As the Command expended [sic], in partnership with the Air Forces of our American Ally, the weight of the attacks was increased, dealing destruction on an unparalleled scale to the German Military, Industrial and Economic System.

All your operations were planned with great care and skill; they were executed in the face of desperate opposition and appalling hazards; they made a decisive contribution to Germany’s final defeat. The conduct of these operations demonstrated the fiery gallant spirit which animated your aircrews and the high sense of duty of all ranks under your Command.

I believe that the massive achievements of Bomber Command will long be remembered as an example of duty nobly done.

Nonetheless, as victory in Europe shone a light on the damage inflicted on Germany from the air, particularly civilian casualties, there were clear political moves to step away from acknowledging the role of Bomber Command.

There is a perception that the commemoration of the bomber crews’ sacrifice was postponed because of a widespread moral unease about this aspect of Britain’s wartime conduct: that dropping bombs on one’s enemy is intrinsically unheroic; that the bombing of Germany was not the “finest hour”.

No campaign medal was issued. It was not until 2013, that the Ministry of Defence issued a clasp to Bomber Command veterans, which was designed to attach to the 1939 to 1945 Star for which those veterans had previously qualified.

Even as campaigners pressed to have the wrong of no permanent memorial righted, they had to fight for planning permission to build the memorial, ultimately granted in 2010.

And they needed to secure the necessary funding – predominantly from private donations. Of the almost £6m cost, the British UK Government provided just £1m.

That the RAF Bomber Command Association and their supporters were finally able to have the memorial built is something veterans and their families will be forever grateful.