Veterans and fallen honoured as 90 years of Bomber Command marked in Lincoln

World War Two veterans and senior RAF commanders will gather together at the International Bomber Command Centre (IBCC) in Lincoln today to commemorate the sixth International Bomber Command Day.

The celebration on Thursday, July 23, is particularly significant this year as it will also mark 90 years since Bomber Command’s creation in 1936.

It led the strategic bombing campaign during World War Two. Some 55,573 young men died flying with Bomber Command in defence of Britain's freedom; that's more than those who serve in the entire Royal Air Force today.

Now nine decades on since Bomber Command was created, the International Bomber Command Centre in Lincoln is commemorating their sacrifices.

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Air Chief Marshal Sir Mike Graydon, IBCC Chairman, told GB News: "Remembrance is about recognition of the sacrifice made by 57,500 people, whose names are on the walls all round here of this wonderful memorial.

"It's also about education. It's about educating young people, old people, about how horrible war is, but how you ensure that you don't go to war by deterring it. That's something that we've forgotten in this country at the moment.

"The bomber boys started in 1939 and flew right throughout the war to 1945, and they made a huge sacrifice in pursuit of freedom.

"Freedom not just for this country, but for the whole of the democratic world, and we should be very proud of what they did, and that's what we commemorate here."

Lincolnshire, which has earned the name Bomber County, housed over a third of all the UK's RAF Bomber Command stations and was the central launching point for the strategic bombing campaign against the Nazis.

The IBCC facility features a striking memorial spire and walls honouring the fallen and every year it commemorates those who served or supported Bomber Command and remembers the consequences and shared suffering of total war.

The annual International Bomber Command Day enables current international military personnel, veterans and families to come together to mark that service and sacrifice.

During the service of remembrance, 51 wreaths will be laid to pay tribute to the extraordinary achievements of the thousands of young men and women who served in the division during the 32 years it was in operation, around the world.

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Nicky van der Drift, Chief Executive of the IBCC, told GB News: "We opened in 2018, and since then, we've welcomed just under 770,000 visitors from 68 different countries, and we've put 50,000 children through our learning programs.

"Anybody that comes to this site should leave having learned something that they didn't know before, and that's because the story is so varied and it includes the story of those that were on the ground, both at this side, but also beneath the bombs, the women that actually carried the war.

"It's all those untold stories and surrounding us in nearly 58,000 stories, because each one of these guys and girls had a story as to where they came from and what their ambitions were and how they sadly lost their lives.

"We forget it at our peril, and it's probably more relevant today than at any other time since the end of World War Two - understanding the horror of war, the impact, the cost to life, the cost to your national identity, is hugely important.

"Because if we don't remember, then we won't learn how to make it not happen again."

Veterans, past and present, will be remembered during the special service at the International Bomber Command Centre.

Today there will be Dakota and Typhoon flypasts, poems, readings and music from Bomber County Pipes and Drums, an RAF trumpeter and the Mansfield and District Male Voice Choir. Air and police cadets will line the avenue as the band leads the standards parade from the IBCC to the spire, where the service will take place.

World War Two veterans Eddie Humes, 104, and Bert Hammond, 101, will be attending along with the station commanders from RAF Waddington, Coningsby, Digby and Wittering and representatives from all the 13 squadrons from Bomber Command that still exist.

Representatives from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) will also be bringing their Torch of Peace as part of their For Evermore Tour, which commemorates the 80th anniversaries of VE Day and VJ Day.

In the evening, invited guests will attend a drinks reception, which will include a Spitfire flypast, sunset ceremony and an evening meal sponsored by DEA Ltd. To find out more about International Bomber Command Day and other upcoming IBCC events, please visit the website HERE.

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