RAF Bomber Command Memorial

Monument in/near Green Park, existing between 2012 and now.

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Monument · * · ·
October
2
2016
The Royal Air Force Bomber Command Memorial is a memorial commemorating the crews of RAF Bomber Command who embarked on missions during the Second World War.

The controversy over the tactics employed by RAF Bomber Command during the Second World War meant that an official memorial to the aircrews had been delayed for many years. Despite describing bombers as "the means of victory" in 1940, British prime minister Winston Churchill did not mention Bomber Command in his speech at the end of the war.

An appeal was made for £5.6 million to build the memorial, and funding came from donations made by the public, as well as substantial amounts from Lord Ashcroft and businessmen John Caudwell and Richard Desmond. Robin Gibb, the singer, became a key figure behind the appeal, working alongside Jim Dooley to raise funds and have the memorial built.

Liam O’Connor designed the memorial, built of Portland stone, which features a bronze 2.7 metre sculpture of seven aircrew, designed by the sculptor Philip Jackson to look as though they have just returned from a bombing mission and left their aircraft.

Aluminium from a Royal Canadian Air Force Handley Page Halifax of No. 426 Squadron that had crashed 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. 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 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, and the rest was melted down by the Bomber Command Museum of Canada in Nanton, Alberta. The Museum provided ingots for the memorial to commemorate the 10,659 of 55,573 Bomber Command aircrew killed during the war that were Canadian.

Queen Elizabeth II officially 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 of the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight dropped red poppy petals over Green Park.


Main source: Wikipedia
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CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE LOCALITY

Born here
www.violettrefusis.com   
Added: 17 Feb 2021 15:05 GMT   

Birth place
Violet Trefusis, writer, cosmopolitan intellectual and patron of the Arts was born at 2 Wilton Crescent SW1X.

Source: www.violettrefusis.com

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LATEST LONDON-WIDE CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE PROJECT

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Wendy    
Added: 22 Mar 2024 15:33 GMT   

Polygon Buildings
Following the demolition of the Polygon, and prior to the construction of Oakshott Court in 1974, 4 tenement type blocks of flats were built on the site at Clarendon Sq/Phoenix Rd called Polygon Buildings. These were primarily for people working for the Midland Railway and subsequently British Rail. My family lived for 5 years in Block C in the 1950s. It seems that very few photos exist of these buildings.

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Steve   
Added: 19 Mar 2024 08:42 GMT   

Road construction and houses completed
New Charleville Circus road layout shown on Stanford’s Library Map Of London And Its Suburbs 1879 with access via West Hill only.

Plans showing street numbering were recorded in 1888 so we can concluded the houses in Charleville Circus were built by this date.

Source: Charleville Circus, Sydenham, London

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Comment
Steve   
Added: 19 Mar 2024 08:04 GMT   

Charleville Circus, Sydenham: One Place Study (OPS)
One Place Study’s (OPS) are a recent innovation to research and record historical facts/events/people focused on a single place �’ building, street, town etc.

I have created an open access OPS of Charleville Circus on WikiTree that has over a million members across the globe working on a single family tree for everyone to enjoy, for free, forever.

Source: Charleville Circus, Sydenham, London

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Comment
Charles   
Added: 8 Mar 2024 20:45 GMT   

My House
I want to know who lived in my house in the 1860’s.

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NH   
Added: 7 Mar 2024 11:41 GMT   

Telephone House
Donald Hunter House, formerly Telephone House, was the BT Offices closed in 2000

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Comment
Paul Cox   
Added: 5 Mar 2024 22:18 GMT   

War damage reinstatement plans of No’s 11 & 13 Aldine Street
Whilst clearing my elderly Mothers house of general detritus, I’ve come across original plans (one on acetate) of No’s 11 & 13 Aldine Street. Might they be of interest or should I just dispose of them? There are 4 copies seemingly from the one single acetate example. Seems a shame to just junk them as the level of detail is exquisite. No worries if of no interest, but thought I’d put it out there.

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Comment
Diana   
Added: 28 Feb 2024 13:52 GMT   

New Inn Yard, E1
My great grandparents x 6 lived in New Inn Yard. On this date, their son was baptised in nearby St Leonard’s Church, Shoreditch

Source: BDM London, Cripplegate and Shoreditch registers written by church clerk.

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Comment
Vic Stanley   
Added: 24 Feb 2024 17:38 GMT   

Postcose
The postcode is SE15, NOT SE1

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Credit: Stable Diffusion
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The 52 bus
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In the neighbourhood...

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Wellington Arch (1850s) Wellington Arch was built as an original entrance to Buckingham Palace, later becoming a victory arch proclaiming Wellington’s defeat of Napoleon. Crowned by the largest bronze sculpture in Europe, it depicts the Angel of Peace descending on the ’Quadriga’ - or four-horsed chariot - of War
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The 52 bus
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A Friday Evening Discourse at the Royal Institution; Sir James Dewar on Liquid Hydrogen (1904)
Credit: Henry Jamyn Brooks
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The sign for the "Stage Door", formerly a pub in Allington Street, SW1
Credit: GoArt/The Underground Map
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Wellington Arch photographed on 10 January 2017. Wellington Arch was built as an original entrance to Buckingham Palace, later becoming a victory arch proclaiming Wellington’s defeat of Napoleon. Crowned by the largest bronze sculpture in Europe, it depicts the Angel of Peace descending on the ’Quadriga’ - or four-horsed chariot - of War. The pathway that runs underneath the arch has a formal name - Apsley Way.
Credit: The Underground Map
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Belgrave Square - this was classed in contemporary reports as "Thomas Cubitt’s greatest achievement". Belgrave Square, is the grandest and largest of his squares.
Credit: Thomas Shepherd
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Letter to Chuck Berry from Carl Sagan (1986)
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41 and 42 Dover Street, Mayfair (2022)
Credit: Wiki Commons/No Swan So Fine
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Grosvenor Gardens Mews East
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Hyde Park Corner in 1842, looking east towards Piccadilly. The entrance to Hyde Park through Decimus Burton’s Ionic Screen is on the left, and behind it, in darker stone, is Apsley House.
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