Not wanting to start a row but this IMO is long overdue

[Helm]

A £6m memorial to the 55,573 airmen of Bomber Command who died during World War II has been unveiled by the Queen.
At the ceremony in London's Green Park, Chief of the Air Staff Sir Stephen Dalton said Bomber Command's "service and raw courage" had been recognised.
Some 6,000 veterans and families of the deceased watched a Lancaster bomber drop thousands of poppies in a flypast.
Criticism of large-scale area bombing by the RAF near the end of WWII had stalled plans for a memorial for years.
Veterans from Australia, New Zealand, Canada and other countries who served alongside the British crew also attended the ceremony.

Regardless of what we now view of the rights/wrongs of it they deserve this and should have had it while there were a lot more around to accept the thanks

Steve

 

[bagelman1952]

Hear, Hear I am with you

 

[callum]

Long overdue and for what its worth it is not for anyone to judge them from 70 years away.

That war had to be won and you don't go to gun fight carrying a knife.

Regards Callum

 

[baronband]

Steve
i totally agree with you too little too late. Unfortunately Britain was politically crippled at the end of the war coming out of it the poor relations to America and Russia. We were so scared to offend anyone that some of our heroes were conveniently forgotten about. As well as bomber command, the Russian naval convoys and all of the Polish airmen that fought at the Battle of Britain were forgotten about too. The polish Airmen was because we could not stop Russia taking over Poland then did not want to offend them. It is a shame we fought for freedom and freedom of speech then seemed to shackle ourselves from fear of offending others. All veterans are heroes and were carrying out orders from their nation, they should never be hidden away. Even today not all veterans got an invite to the unveiling, sad

 

[baronband]

On that very subject the programme who betrayed the bomber boys is just about to start on yesterday+1 so i think I'm about to give it a watch!!

 

[tonydawe]

One in three of the 10,000 Australian airmen who flew with Bomber Command over Europe in WW2 never returned home.

My father in law flew as a rear gunner in Lancaster bombers for over 20 missions. I spoke to him once about the RAF policy of firebombing German towns and cities and he summed it simply by saying "It helped win the war". He wasn't proud and didn't think of himself as a hero.

Regardless of what you think about the strategies employed by RAF Bomber Command, we shouldn't forget the sacrifice of those who served on all sides. Their recognition is long overdue.

 

[Dennis]

Well said all of you.
Dennis

 

[housecarl]

Lest we forget.
Carl.

 

[Helm]

I forgot to add that it also commerates civillians of ALL nations killed by bombing in WWII as well as allied airmen

 

[NickM]

I've always thought it disgraceful that the crews of Bomber Command were never recognized for the bravery they showed, especially given the attrition rate amongst the crews. I believe they didn't even get a campaign medal...

Finally they've got the credit they deserve for helping to rid Europe of brutal oppression. Just a shame it's too late for most of them to see it.

 

[Redcap]

Steve, "And so say all of us"......well said sir!
Gary

 

[Colin_Fraser]

All sides in WWII committed war crimes and in the end it comes to a question of degree and to which side you were on when it was time to be judged, or not. Germans were put on trial and put to death for killing US prisoners at Malmedy but Canadian and other allied soldiers admitted to taking German prisoners behind the dunes and shooting them on D-Day. I differentiate between crimes committed in the field in combat conditions and factory slaughter of civilians in the camps - almost as if they were second and first degree crimes respectively.

My personal opnion is that targeted bombing of civilians by all sides is/was a crime and is/was against the rule of law - then and now. However, the blame belongs to those who authorised the bombing, not to those who did their duty and flew the missions - those who flew should be honoured for their courage and devotion and the memorial is deserved. I think the last minute addition of a reference to the bombing victims was a little silly as its out of contexzt and those who lost their lives to bombing in the UK, Germany, Japan and elsewhere deserve their own international memorial, not a notation on one to the air crews.

Not that it really matters, but it should also be noted that Germany was also bombing British cities - my grandfather was a very senior fire officer in Coventry in 1940 - so I find the hew and cry from I see coming from Germany re. Dresden rather hard to fathom.

Colin

 

[baronband]

Very well said Guys
i always remember the phrase "soldiers don't start wars they end them" politicians start wars but when they end at times the politicians are embarrassed by what they asked their service personnel to do, hence burying the past and memorials due. I always think of the Korean war some amazing battles took place against overwhelming numbers but because it ended a draw and our former enemies negotiated a place at the UN top table we tend to forget about what our guys achieved. In my opinion NI, OP Banner..our longest ever operational deployment in history will soon become our next "forgotten" campaign. However all is not lost because the people involved will always have the support of the people.

 

[Helm]

I'd just like to say that while I really appreciate Steve's sentiments as an ex Falklands squabble man myself. I don't feel that compares in any way to WW2. But thanks Steve and all offers of beer gratefully accepted ;-) in lieu of praise


Steve

 

[Kevin D.]

I'd like to add my 2 cents worth.... How much is that in pounds? ANyway.... I've watched many a documentary on the air war as many of us have and I have got to say that I am very glad to hear of this being done for them!!

It was a hard hard war with the issue in doubt for a long time. What absolutely chills me to the spine is watching on a documentary, a bomber (in the camera lens from another bomber) twist and start to spiral down, listening to the crew in the filming plane..."There goes the Mary Ann"....."I see one chute"..next voice.."Two on the port side"...Next dispassionate voice...."tailgunner is out".......

Thats 4 of a ten man crew, the rest plummeting to their death....and the speaking crew is going out tomorrow or the next day to experience that terror again and again.....

Thanks for reading...just felt I had to add a Hurrah for the memorial and Cheers for that kind of bravery.

Kevin D.

 

[Steve]

Now to get Arthur Harris his due.

 

[Uruk-Hai]

I'd like to add my 2 cents worth.... How much is that in pounds? ANyway.... I've watched many a documentary on the air war as many of us have and I have got to say that I am very glad to hear of this being done for them!!

It was a hard hard war with the issue in doubt for a long time. What absolutely chills me to the spine is watching on a documentary, a bomber (in the camera lens from another bomber) twist and start to spiral down, listening to the crew in the filming plane..."There goes the Mary Ann"....."I see one chute"..next voice.."Two on the port side"...Next dispassionate voice...."tailgunner is out".......

Thats 4 of a ten man crew, the rest plummeting to their death....and the speaking crew is going out tomorrow or the next day to experience that terror again and again.....

Thanks for reading...just felt I had to add a Hurrah for the memorial and Cheers for that kind of bravery.

Kevin D.

I usually catch myself hoping to see the chutes when a plane goes down as well. Even if it is more than 60 years ago, you still hope the poor airman shall make it.

Cheers
Janne Nilsson

 

[brian]

I totally agree with all that has been said regarding the unbelievable stressful job that the bomber crews went through during WW11,but hope that they spare a thought for the numerous innocent childrens lifes that were lost during the war.
Civilian lifes will always be lost in war but it would sit a bit better with me if they were callatoral damage while bombing a military target .As we know the technology we had then and bombing at night made the chances of targeting a specific target nearly impossible,but deliberately targetting innocent civilians doesn't seem right.I would hazard a guess that some of the bomber crews would have that thought in their minds although they were only doing their jobs.
"They bombed us" i've frequently heard,but should we stoop to their level.
Military targets Yes.Innocent civilian targets No.
Brian