Bomber Command Memorial

[K5054]

Hi all,

I have been a member and avid viewer of all your posts for the past couple of years and have been meaning to get round to my first post for some time.

Rather than just saying hello and introducing myself, I will use my first post to draw your attention to an event that will be of interest to many of you and perhaps that some may wish to attend.

I am travelling from Edinburgh this weekend to attend on Sunday, the dedication of a Bomber Command Memorial in Lincoln Cathedral. The service takes place at 1545, with a Lancaster fly-past at 1500. The memorial is the direct result of the hard work over many years of a former navigator on Blenheims and Lancs, Douglas Hudson (90), Scotty Scott (70) who I understand is a Bomber Command veteran of the Vulcan era and a wonderful lady Sylvia Watts who was a WAAF with Bomber Command and who celebrates her 84th birthday on the day of the service.

These three individuals, without the help of government or a largely ungrateful nation, have made a Bomber Command Memorial happen at last after 60 years of neglect. Scotty's next objective is the awarding of a Bomber Command campaign medal before we have lost all the veterans.

I would expect that some people with strong pacifist beliefs may stage some sort of protest on Sunday as they have already done in the media. If they do so we should rejoice that they live in a society where they are allowed to do so. They themselves are a memorial to the sacrifice of Bomber Command aircrew and all others of that generation that defeated the greatest evil the world has ever known.

Sorry if this has been a bit long and heavy for a first post.

I'll post later on the more mundane subject of collecting model aeroplanes!

[Agent X20]

Welcome to the forum.. ace post... and we expect to see the pictures around 17:00 on Sunday:D :D :D .... Hope it stays nice and dry...

[Red 2]

Glad to have your input K5054 and welcome. Very interesting.

Hope the ceremony goes well and it would be great if you can tell us some more later.

[minter]

welcome,...just started to read kevin wilsons bomber boys 1943, dont begrudge a single thing theys guys did, very brave men

[corgi956]

Great post.

I have always been appalled at some of the ungrateful and frankly, totally ill-informed views expressed by the PC "correct" Guardianistas of this world about most things, but especially about the incredially brave lads of Bomber Command.

Be assured they do not represent the views of most people who understand what the country faced and what its people went through during the war. My Mam and dad (sadly no longer here) understood, just as the rest of their generation. The re-writing of history by the Guardianistas of this world is completely disingenuous, dangerous and usually ill-informed or plain wrong.

Bomber Command were heroes - every one of them - just like everyone else who tried to do their bit in those years. All power to them and good luck on Sunday. :)

[corgi956]

By the way, forgot to say. Welcome on board . :) Happy to have you!

[Martin Bull]

Welcome to the Forum, Spitfire prototype !

Great post - I saw some nonsense in the National press about 'controversy' over the memorial and couldn't be bothered to read it.....the crews of Bomber Command, whether they survived or did not, are entitled to our utmost respect for what they endured.

I hope that the unveiling ceremony is treated with due dignity.

[shuttle]

Welcome K5054 and a great post. Everything posted so far on this subject I fully agree with. The bomber command crews were some of the bravest men of WWII and their sacrifice must never be forgotten.

I am on holiday in Ireland at present but felt that I should reply to this post - if people remain quite then the fools who have 20/20 hindsight and seek to re-write history will continue to belittle out national heroes.

:) Shuttle

[no4mkit]

Welcome K5054! Thanks for the info and I concur with what the guys have said here. Having a relative who was a rear gunner on Lancs with 428 Sqn I have nothing but respect for BC vets, and nothing but loathing (at best) for the protestors and history revisionists. I hope all goes well and look forward to hearing about the ceremony (and seeing pics of the memorial if possible). I hope Scotty is successful with the medal as well. Long overdue. :mad:

[eismeer]

Welcome to the forum K5054 and excellent first post.

Something all of us on here are very passionate about is the recognition of the bravery and sacrifice made by all these War veterans especially the young crews of Bomber Command whose memory has been dishonoured in my mind with the lack of any tribute or monument to date.

Respect to the people involved in arranging these long over due Honours be they monuments or medals, they are much deserved.

Hopefully it will shame the Government into doing something on a much larger scale though maybe that is just to much to wish for.

Hope the day goes well and is well attended.

[prune]

Welcome K5054, I agree totally with your comments.The revisionist ar$eoles are also claiming the Royal Navy won the Battle of Britain
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,13509-2326051,00.html

[CFBC]

Last paragraph of that says it all Prune.... :) I know though where you are coming from....

[K5054]

Got back late last night from a long but very worthwhile journey to Lincoln.

My abiding impression of the day was of how humbling it was to be in the company of so many veterans of Bomber Command, everyone with experiences that we of younger generations are fascinated by and perhaps even a little envious of. Thankfully none of us are ever likely to experience the horrors of war in the way that generation did.

Some photographs; (I hope I'm doing this right as I cant see them when I preview my post! Somebody will keep me right I bet!)

Picture 1

The wonderful Sylvia Watts, 84 years young on the day of the service and one of the driving forces behind making the memorial a reality. For a different perspective of Bomber Commands War, check out her two volume biography "Tales of a Bomber Command WAAF (and her horse)". The proceeds from her books went toward paying for the memorial stone.

Picture 2

"Mickey" over flies the cathedral. A highlight of the day for everyone, "Mickey the Moocher" did three flpasts over Lincoln Cathedral which I was amused to discover many of the aircrews refered to as "the largest brothel in town" due to the fact it had two big red lights on top!


Picture 3

Flying Officer Douglas Hudson DFC and the Memorial Stone.

Douglas is a quite amazing 90 and spent much of the day being interviewed by TV cameras and sought by autograph hunters! He is another of the prime movers behind the memorial. I am just reading his biography now, "There and Back Again, a navigators story" Served on Blenheims, captured in North Africa, escaped and got home to serve on Lancs...amazing!


The struggle will now continue to achieve Bomber Command veterans the thanks and recognition they deserve through the awarding of a long overdue campaign medal. Scotty Scott has now written to our esteemed PM twice and not even had the decency of an acknowledgement! But the fight will continue.

I will keep you posted on any developments and perhaps how we all might be able to help in this campaign to recognise these heroes.

[eismeer]

Thanks for the up-date and the pictures of the memorial service K5054 and nice to see that it was well attended.

Great to see that later generations are still remembering these veterans by wanting their autographs and to hear their recollections about their wartime experiences.

[CFBC]

K5054,

Thanks indeed for the pictures and the posting... Ive not been well for a few days, but did intend to go up and visit the area yesterday, but was not able too. I did have the Lancaster flyover the house two/three times very low though....

Excellent and I will be heading-up to the Catherdral next weekend to view the memorial.

:)

[Red 2]

K5054,

Excellent report and congratulations to all those involved in the memorial and campaign to date. A thankless task as far as getting meaningful backing from politicians in government, look at how difficult it was to get the Battle of Britain memorial in London and the lack of official encouragement...from governments of both parties.

I think that my visit to Waddington next year will have a detour.

Well done.

[minter]

K5054,

look at how difficult it was to get the Battle of Britain memorial in London and the lack of official encouragement...from governments of both parties.





and getting a pardon for those shot at dawn during ww1........anyway thanks for the update K5054

[CFBC]

I think that my visit to Waddington next year will have a detour.

R2,

If you do, then let me know and I can give you a guided tour.... How about you stopping over for a few beers too? :D

[Red 2]

R2,

If you do, then let me know and I can give you a guided tour.... How about you stopping over for a few beers too? :D

Welcome back to the land of the living oh shackled one.....please don't tell us what was wrong with you...heard reports of drains overflowing in Lincoln so can guess the rest...:D

Only too delighted to accept the guided tour...Lincoln's traffic system baffles me and I always seem to spend several hours there unintentionally at the best of times so an excellent idea.

Is there a pub still letting you in following the pre-nuptial knees up?

[CFBC]

Welcome back to the land of the living oh shackled one.....please don't tell us what was wrong with you...heard reports of drains overflowing in Lincoln so can guess the rest...:D

Only too delighted to accept the guided tour...Lincoln's traffic system baffles me and I always seem to spend several hours there unintentionally at the best of times so an excellent idea.

Is there a pub still letting you in following the pre-nuptial knees up?

Oh yes, Lincoln... Such a small and lovely City with one hell of a traffic system... :rolleyes: One accident, breakdown or roadworks and the whole City grinds to a halt....

Yes, one Batemans watering hole still allowing me thier finest ale! :) Well within walking distance to the Manor too. :cool:

[Red 2]

Oh yes, Lincoln... Such a small and lovely City with one hell of a traffic system... :rolleyes: One accident, breakdown or roadworks and the whole City grinds to a halt....

Yes, one Batemans watering hole still allowing me thier finest ale! :) Well within walking distance to the Manor too. :cool:

Walking = crawling??:D

[no4mkit]

great stuff K5054, thanks! :)

[Agent X20]

Thanks for the post prototype chappie... those chaps really do deserve some kind of recognition.. whether it be a medal or whatever...

[sniperUK]

The day before the Memorial Service a group of NI Wing Cadets at camp had the honour of meeting Mr Hudson at Conningsby this is what the BBMF website has to say about this.


A group of Air Cadets from N.Ireland, were attending a week summer camp at RAF Waddington recently visited the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight. By a lucky coincidence the Captain of the Lancaster that day, was Flt Lt Mike Leckey who is also originally from N Ireland. He met the cadets and chatted to them about his career in the RAF including his voluntary duties as a pilot on the Lancaster and Dakota at BBMF. The Flight also had a special visitor that day, former Lancaster navigator Mr Douglas Hudson DFC who also spoke to the Cadets and told them of his experiences on two Operational Squadrons of Bomber Command, separated by a period of two and a quarter years as a prisoner of war in three North African Prison Camps. The Cadets were proud to have their photograph taken with the aircrew from the past and present and left hoping that they would be part of the future Royal Air Force.


And a photo taken by a mate of the occasion.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v331/sniperUK/CNV00179.jpg

Look carefuly at the turret.

[sniperUK]

A close up

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v331/sniperUK/CNV00179a.jpg

[Cardinal]

Let's face it, the Lancaster is the most aesthetically pleasing bomber ever to grace the skies :cool: :) - and I've yet to add one in 1/72 scale to my collection :(

[Red 2]

Let's face it, the Lancaster is the most aesthetically pleasing bomber ever to grace the skies :cool: :) - and I've yet to add one in 1/72 scale to my collection :(

Cardinal....your mission is clear....you need a Lanc otherwise die-cast life will forever seem empty...bread and water I fear for the next few years until you've got a second mortgage for the postage to Middle Earth...:D

Great pic Sniper...can I have an avatar that big?:LOL:

[Martin Bull]

Let's face it, the Lancaster is the most aesthetically pleasing bomber ever to grace the skies :cool: :) - and I've yet to add one in 1/72 scale to my collection :(

Cardinal - you've got to get one ! :eek: ( Preferably not the rather horrid 'Sights'n'Snouds' 2006 model...:unsure: )

[no4mkit]

A close up

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v331/sniperUK/CNV00179a.jpg


Almost looks like the torso of a gunner in full Irvin kit between those .303's Sniper.... spooky...

[sniperUK]

Almost looks like the torso of a gunner in full Irvin kit between those .303's Sniper.... spooky...

Exactly,was pointed out to me by the photographer so I enlarged the pic.