Bomber Command Memorial

Bomber Command Memorial 

 For years there was an omission in the commemorative  monuments in London . That was the lack of one for the over 55,000 souls who lost their lives whilst serving in Bomber Command .
The political issues  in glorious 20/20 hindsight of rights and wrongs should never have prevented a memorial being built  to the brave men who flew these missions.
The memorial funded by public donation was finally unveiled by the Queen on the 28th June 2012.
These pictures are from  my first and as yet only  visit to the memorial.
The statue stands within an open sided columned room that has a roof with an open centre section .
The statue made from bronze by Philip Jackson features 7 crewmen (proportionate to the usual number on a Lancaster ) standing on a plinth . They appear to have just returned from a bombing raid ...or more fancifully perhaps they are 7 crewmen already destined not to return .  You choose!
The details are superb , I cannot imagine that the sculpture would have been as good as this if it had been done postwar . At least the time delay as meant we now have possibly one of the best sculpture ever made of our fighting men .
The building made from Portland stone  housing the sculpture is not without nuance . The roof  structure represents the geodetic structure that made up the Wellington bombers airframe and to cap it all is actually manufactured from alloy taken from Halifax LW682 shot down over Belgium in 1944 . This aircraft was recovered from a bog in 1997 . Apparently 3 of the crewmen were still on board the aircraft when it was recovered . They are now interred in the area of Geraardsbergen near Flanders . 
I was mightily impressed by the whole edifice and the thought that went into it .