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THE RAF BOMBER C O M M A N D M E M O R I A L LO N D O N FOR THE OLD BOLD PILOTS SAN DIEGO CALIFORNIA 25 MARCH 2015 Liam O Connor Architects and Planning Consultants 75 Cowcross Street London EC1M 6EL UK www liamoconnor com

T H E R A F B O M B E R C O M M A N D M E M O RIAL LONDON FOR THE The Bomber Command memorial photographs in this book are by Nick Car ter photographer www nickcar terphotography co uk OLD BOLD PILOTS Front cover photo Takako Kugo pp 1 7 photo Dennis Finney SAN DIEGO CALIFORNIA The photos document the rele vant research and building that took place between 2011 and 2012 and the inauguration by Her Majesty the Queen on 28 June 2012 2 5 M A RC H 2 0 1 5

F O R E WO R D To ny I ve s o n o n e o f t h e m e n o f D a m b u s t e r S q u a d ro n w h o s a n k t h e g re a t G e r m a n b a t t l e s h i p T i r p i t z i n 1 9 4 4 u s e d h i s f i re a n d h i s p a s s i o n t o c re a t e a l o n g o ve rd u e M e m o r i a l t o t h e a c h i e ve m e n t s o f R A F B o m b e r C o m m a n d I t w a s a t a s k h e t o o k u p a t t h e a g e o f e i g h t y a n d s aw t h ro u g h u n t i l c l o s e t o h i s n i n e t i e t h b i r t h d ay a s a w ay o f c l o s i n g t h e a c c o u n t o n t h e d e a t h o f 5 5 5 7 3 o f t h e c o l l e a g u e s o f h i s y o u t h L i a m O C o n n o r i s t h e y o u n g a r c h i t e c t w h o t o o k o ve r t h e j o b f ro m To ny a n d t r a n s l a t e d i t i n t o re a l i t y a n d i t i s n o w a m o n g t h e m o s t v i s i t e d p l a c e s i n L o n d o n E n g l a n d B r i a n M i l t o n Av i a t o r a n d c o a u t h o r w i t h To ny I ve s o n o f T he L a n c a s t e r a n d t h e T i r p i t z Left The Sinking of the Tirpitz September 1944 p a i n t i n g b y G e r a l d C o u l s o n V P G Av A When Churchill demanded that the Tirpitz be sunk it w a s fo r a re a s o n H i t l e r s m i g h t y b a t t l e s h i p w a s a t e rr i b l e t h re a t t o t h e N o r t h A t l a n t i c c o nvoy s B r i t a i n s l i fe l i n e I t w a s a d i f f i c u l t c h a l l e n g e fo r t h e c re w s o f R A F B o m b e r C o m m a n d a s t h e T i r p i t z l ay i n a h e av i l y d e fe n d e d N o r we g i a n f j o rd b u t o n 1 2 N o ve m b e r 1 9 4 4 m e n f ro m 6 1 7 a n d 9 S q u a d ro n s f i n a l l y s u c c e e d e d i n sinking the battleship 2 3

I N T RO D U C T I O N T h e i d e a fo r t h i s b o o k e m e rg e d d u r i n g a d e l i g h t f u l l u n c h w i t h B r i a n M i l t o n a t t h e R e fo r m C l u b i n P a l l M a l l L o n d o n f ro m w h e re t h e f a m o u s f i c t i t i o u s a d ve n t u re r P h i l e a s F o g g s e t o f f i n 1 8 7 3 t o w i n a b e t b y t r ave l l i n g A ro u n d t h e Wo r l d i n E i g h t y D ay s B r i a n i n t ro d u c e d m e t o t h e O l d B o l d P i l o t s m a k i n g m e aw a re o f t h i s s p e c i a l g ro u p o f av i a t o r s T h i s o f fe r i n g w a s c re a t e d b y B r i a n a n d m e o n b e h a l f o f o u r g re a t f r i e n d To ny I ve s o n a s a t r i b u t e t o h i s w o r k i n c re a t i n g a m e m o r i a l t o re c o g n i s e t h e s a c r i f i c e o f t h e 5 5 5 7 3 a i r m e n w h o fo u g h t u n d e r R A F B o m b e r C o m m a n d b e t we e n 1 9 3 9 a n d 1 9 4 5 To ny m e t w i t h t h e O B P s o n t w o o c c a s i o n s a n d h e w a s p ro u d o f t h a t a s s o c i a t i o n H e o f t e n s p o k e o f h i s re s p e c t a n d a d m i r a t i o n fo r a i r m e n f ro m a l l s i d e s a n d h i s p a r t i c u l a r a f fe c t i o n fo r K u r t S c h u l z e t h e L u f t w a f fe p i l o t w h o t h a n k f u l l y f a i l e d t o s h o o t h i m d o w n o n 1 2 N o ve m b e r 1 9 4 4 o ve r t h e d y i n g corpse of Tirpitz To ny I ve s o n K u r t S c h u l t z e A d o l f G a l l a n d G u y G i b s o n L e o n a rd C h e s h i re t h e l i s t i s l o n g a n d s t a n d s a s a t e s t i m o ny t o t h e p ro fe s s i o n a l i s m o f a i r m e n w h o d i d t h e i r d u t y a n d To p p e d t h e w i n d s we p t h e i g h t s w i t h e a s y g r a c e W h e re n e ve r l a r k o r e ve n e a g l e f l e w 1 F ro m my p e r s p e c t i ve I c a n o n l y s ay t h a t t o h ave h a d a S p i t f i re p i l o t a n d a s q u a d ro n l e a d e r f ro m 6 1 7 D a m b u s t e r S q u a d ro n a s a c l i e n t w a s a n e x c e p t i o n a l m o m e n t i n my c a re e r W i t h To ny s i n t ro d u c t i o n t o t h e w o r l d o f av i a t i o n a n d h i s e vo c a t i ve ye t u n d e r s t a t e d s t o r i e s o f d a r i n g h e ro i s m a n d s a c r i f i c e I w a s g i ve n ve r y p r i v i l e g e d a c c e s s t o a p e r i o d o f h i s t o r y t h a t w i l l s u re l y n e ve r b e m a t c h e d i n i t s scale of human drama A t t h e e n d b o t h h e a n d t h e O B P s s h a re d s o m e t h i n g s p e c i a l i n t e r m s o f t h e i r m i l i t a r y e x p e r i e n c e a n d t h e i r l o ve o f f l y i n g T h i s s e t s t h e m a p a r t f ro m t h e re s t o f u s m e re m o r t a l s w h o h ave n e ve r s l i p p e d t h e s u r l y b o n d s o f e a r t h 2 The interior space of the Bomber Command Memorial The main space is a stone loggia open to Piccadilly on one side and Green Park on the other At the centre stands a nine foot high sculpture group in bronze by Philip 4 Jackson The oculus open to the sky above the sculpture signifies the close relationship between the bomber crews and the celestial space above them where a great many would lose their lives over the course of the war Liam O Connor a r c h i t e c t a n d d e s i g n e r o f t h e R A F B o m b e r C o m m a n d M e m o r i a l 1 John Gillespie Magee Jr American aviator and Spitfire pilot who was killed in a training accident in England 11 December 1941 aged nineteen 2 Ibid 5

The memorial seen from the park on a summer morning a place for reflection and the contemplation of the vast loss of life on all sides Those who died as a result of the Bomber Offensive are remembered in a text car ved into a stone lintel which reads THIS MEMO RIAL ALSO COM MEMORATES THOSE OF ALL NATIONS WHO LOST THEIR LIVES IN THE BOMBING OF 1939 1945 6 7

Right The memorial has a civic p re s e n c e o n i t s s t re e t e l e v a t i o n side sitting close to the other memorials on Hyde Park Corner d e d i c a t e d t o t h o s e w h o fo u g h t and died in the two world wars o f t h e t we n t i e t h c e n t u r y Below The dappled sunlight that fills the lofty memorial s p a c e h a s a p a r t i c u l a r l y m e l a nc h o l y fe e l a t s u n s e t j u s t b e fo re t h e b ro n z e t o r c h re s a re l i t giving the memorial a museumlike air at night The memorial is n e ve r c l o s e d a n d a l l o w s v i s i t o r s f u l l a n d u n fe t t e re d a c c e s s a t a l l times With its conscious use of a contemporar y evolution of the Greek Doric order the Classical building evokes Mars the god of war and seeks to create a timeless architecture which will ensure the memor y of the 55 573 aircrew of Bomber Co m m a n d n e ve r d i m i n i s h e s 8 9

Above Stan Bradford DFM who flew with No 57 Squadron Bomber Com mand He was an air gunner on Lan casters and shot down six enemy night fighters Left His Distinguished Flying Medal Right Pages from his log book 10 11

Above Ar tist and letter cutter Richard Kindersley at work with his drawing for the RAF crest His exquisite design was carved in stone by him and his team of stone cutters both in his workshop and on the construction site as the work proceeded 12 Left Richard Kindersley designed this unique letter face especially for this memorial The letters are deeply cut into the solid blocks of white lime stone almost as a memorial gesture in its own right He drew inspiration from the typefaces of the 1930s and 40s as well as utilising characters from ancient Greek inscriptions The result is a remarkable synthesis of historical associations with a striking piece of contemporary fine ar t The column drums of the memorial are made in sections cut from solid blocks of white Por tland lime stone The solidity of the structure bears testament to the intended permanence of the memorial A group of highly skilled stonemasons under the direction of Alan McConnell of S McConnell and Sons Limited was responsible for the exquisite quality of stonework 13

14 Philip Jackson in his studio at work with a full size clay model of an airman Veterans of Bomber Command attended the sculptor s studio to comment and sign off each figure in the 15 seven man crew

C o l i n J o s e p h D u d l e y D F C c re a t e d t h e e x c e p t i o n a l w re a t h i n b ro n z e t h a t sits at the entrance to the memorial B o r n i n 1 9 2 3 h e s t u d i e d a r t b e fo re t h e w a r b ro k e o u t H e vo l u n t e e re d fo r f l y i n g d u t i e s i n 1 9 4 0 a n d f l e w a s n av i g a t o r o n H a l i f a x e s i n 3 9 o p e r at i o n a l s o r t i e s H e w a s aw a rd e d t h e DFC in 1945 He gained his PhD at the age of s e ve n ty n i n e w i t h a t h e s i s e n t i t l e d Canterbury Cathedral Aspects of its S a c re d G e o m e t r y We we re ve r y p r i v il e g e d t o h ave a fo r m e r a i r m a n w o r king on such an impor tant par t of the m e m o r i a l p ro j e c t H e d i e d i n 2 0 1 4 S h o r t l y b e fo re h i s d e a t h h e w ro t e Details of the clothing and equipment of an a i r c re w fi g u re c a s t i n b ro n z e P h i l i p J a c k s o n studied historic photos a c t u a l u n i fo r m s a n d t h e re c o l l e c t i o n s o f ve t e r a n a i r c re w a s re s e a r c h fo r h i s s c u l p t u re 16 I f I h a d a ny d e e p e r t h o u g h t s a b o u t my d e s i g n i t w o u l d b e c o n c e r n e d n o t s o m u c h w i t h t h e m a ny t h o u s a n d s of young men who died which is be y o n d c o m p re h e n s i o n e x c e p t fo r t h e o n e f i n e f r i e n d t h a t I k n e w b u t w i t h t h e i n d i v i d u a l f r i e n d s o f my s c h o o ld ay s w h o d i d n o t re t u r n o f w h a t t h e y w o u l d h ave a c h i e ve d i f t h e y h a d l i ve d a n d o f t h e l o v i n g f a m i l i e s p a re n t s g r a n d p a re n t s b ro t h e r s s i st e r s w i ve s c h i l d re n a n d g i r l f r i e n d s w h o w o u l d n e ve r f u l l y re c o ve r f ro m their loss And this would take me to t h e s h a d o w o f t h e F i r s t Wo r l d Wa r i n w h i c h s o m a ny a i r c re w g re w u p a n d o f a l l t h e s o r ro w a n d p a i n t h a t n e ve r we n t aw ay w h i c h I k n e w o f s o we l l i n my o w n c h i l d h o o d I j u s t h o p e t h a t t h e a r m s o f t h e w re a t h w i l l b e s e e n b y t h o s e o n e a r t h a n d t h o s e a b o ve a s re a c h i n g o u t i n a n e m b r a c e o f e t e r n a l d e vo t i o n 17

Left The roof is a special par t of the mem o r i a l I t s o p e n stainless steel structure is designed as a n h o m a g e t o Barnes Wallis the great aircraft designer a n d i nve n t o r of the bounc ing bombs used in the Dam b u s t e r s r a i d Operation Chastise 16 May 1943 The m e m o r i a l ro o f was designed by Alan Baxter and Associa t e s s t r u c t u ral engineers 18 R i g h t T h e V i c k e r s We l l i n g t o n B o m b e r g e o d e t i c a i rf r a m e w h i c h Wa l l i s d e ve l o p e d i n t h e 1 9 3 0 s I t m a k e s u s e o f a n a l u m i n i u m s p a c e f r a m e fo r m e d f ro m a s p ir a l l y c ro s s i n g b a s k e t we ave o f l o a d b e a r i n g m e m b e r s This image was taken during a visit by the whole me m o r i a l d e s i g n t e a m t o R A F C o s fo rd p r i o r t o t h e m e m o r i a l ro o f d e s i g n b e i n g d e ve l o p e d The ceiling of the memorial is equally symbolic it is m a d e f ro m s e c t i o n s o f m e l t e d d o w n a l u m i n i u m f ro m a H a l i f a x b o m b e r H a l i f a x LW 6 8 2 f ro m N o 42 6 S q u a dro n s h o t d o w n o ve r B e l g i u m o n 1 2 M ay 1 9 4 4 A l l e i g h t a i r c re w we re k i l l e d T h re e m e m b e r s o f t h e c re w J o h n S u m m e r h aye s m i d u p p e r g u n n e r F re d R o a c h t a i l g u n n e r a n d Wilbur Bentz pilot were still at t h e i r s t a t i o n s w h e n the aircraft was excavated from a s w a m p i n S c h e n d elbeke in 1997 They were buried in a c h u r c hy a rd n e a r b y close to the rest of their crew w i t h f u l l m i l i t a r y h o nours 19

Left The memorial was formally inaugurated by HM The Queen on 28 June 2012 Thousands of veterans attended from Canada New Zealand Australia the USA and Europe along with serving members of the RAF and government ministers Above right Bomber Command veterans during the service of inauguration Bottom right HRH The Prince of Wales speaks with a Bomber Command veteran 20 21

Left Ceremonial fly past Av ro L ancaster bomber w i t h S pitfire and Hurr i c a n e fighters from the B a t t l e of Britain Memo r i a l F l i ght take par t in a fly past over Buckingham Palace Right Remembrance Day S u n d ay 11 November 2012 The ser vice was p re s i d e d over by The Venerable Canon Brian Lucas C B H o norar y Chaplin of t h e B omber Command Association H e s a i d We gather here t o p ay homage to those w h o s er ved in Bomber C o m m and and made t h e s u preme sacrifice so t h a t f u ture generations w i l l k n ow something of t h e h e roism and coura g e o f those we honour h e re 22 23

Avro Lancaster B Mk 1 R5868 S Sugar Museum Accession number 74 A 12 a veteran of over one hundred raids and housed in the Bomber Command Hall at the RAF Museum Hendon Its first operational sor tie was with No 83 Squadron against Wilhelmshaven in July 1942 Other operations included mine dropping over Bordeaux in July 1942 and a raid on Berlin in March 1943 It continued the war after Septem ber 1943 flying with No 467 Squadron taking par t in the raid on the German army 21st Panzer Division at Mailly le Camp in May 1944 and the raid on German coastal batteries at Saint Pierre du Mont in June 1944 At the end of the war SSugar took par t in numerous prisoner of war repatriations and food supply missions 24 25

T h e RAF Bomber Command Memorial L o n don winter view from Green Park 26 27

subsequently developed into the combined Bomber Offensive As this gathered momentum over the next two years the Luftwaffe was driven back on the defensive In 1943 the strength and range of the bomber attacks took the air war from Britain to the skies over Germany and the development of their extensive air defence systems forced a massive diversion of men and weapons from the main battlefronts to counter the bomber threat The Bomber Offensive Nearly 900 000 men and some 66 000 anti craft guns also useful as anti tank weapons were necessary to man the air defences of the homeland and 1 200 000 personnel were employed in the civil defence organisations Squadron Leader Tony Iveson DFC Spitfire pilot and Bomber Command pilot Chairman of the Bomber Command Association 2001 to 2011 This essay was written for a fund raising event held at the Belgravia Gallery in London September 2010 as part of Tony Iveson s campaign to get the memorial built On 3 September 1940 at the height of the Battle of Britain when we stood alone against an enemy who controlled Europe from Norway to the Franco Spanish frontier Prime Minister Winston Churchill told his Cabinet The Navy can lose us the war but only the Air Force can win it Therefore our supreme effort must be to gain overwhelming mastery in the air The fighters are our salvation but the bombers alone provide the means to victory We must therefore develop the power to carry an ever increasing volume of explosives to Germany so as to pulverise the entire industry and scientific structure on which the war effort and economic life of the enemy depend while holding him at arm s length from our island Bomber Command was formed in 1936 when the RAF was re organised to meet the growing menace of the Luftwaffe as Adolf Hitler pursued his expansionist ambitions in Europe At the outbreak of war in September 1939 the Command possessed fewer than 28 500 medium bombers Heavy losses in daylight operations caused an early switch to night flying including the dropping of propaganda leaflets over German cities In the first two years of flying at night over a blacked out Germany in European weather conditions with the navigation aids then available target location and accurate bombing were very difficult if not impossible 1942 saw significant improvements As Air Marshall Sir Arthur Harris took over as Commander in Chief the heavy four engined bombers Lancasters and Halifaxes were reaching the squadrons in increasing numbers New electronic navigational equipment was becoming available in quantity the Pathfinder Force PFF of experienced and highly trained crews was formed to locate and mark targets and the first thousand bomber raids were launched It was later in that year too that the United States Army Air Force began its operations in Europe which The Luftwaffe was also heavily handicapped in its operations in Russia the Mediterranean and other theatres by being compelled to concentrate on the expansion of its fighter force for the defence of Germany No heavy bombers comparable to our four engined aircraft were produced and in 1945 the same bomber aircraft were in use as in 1939 By 1944 81 percent of their fighter force was based in Germany In taking the war to the enemy the Bomber Offensive had another effect reducing air attacks on Britain From May 1941 to June 1944 when the V weapons buzz bombs and rockets assault began the Luftwaffe mounted only sporadic raids on our cities The V weapon campaign itself was six months late due to Bomber Command s devastating attack on the development centre at Peenemunde in August 1943 The effects were further reduced by continuous attacks on the launch sites in the Pas de Calais and Holland As well as the all out offensive against German industrial targets considerable effort was directed to supporting the naval and land war by attacks on enemy shipping military supplies communications and airfields For at least a year 1942 43 bomber crews made a significant contribution in the Battle of the Atlantic when the U boat menace to our food fuel supplies and troop convoys was at its height Throughout the war thousands of mines were sown around the European coastline and Bomber Command was involved in a series of attacks on the German Navy s surface vessels U boats and harbours It is not well known but the Command sank more enemy ships than did the Navy including the 56 000 ton German battleship Tirpitz in Arctic waters in 1944 In support of the invasion of Europe in the spring and summer of 1944 Bomber Command was given the task of preventing the build up of German defensive forces and efforts of reinforcement before and after 6 June by the destruction of coastal defences rail centres tunnels bridges and enemy defence positions for example at Caen Bomber Command aircraft were operational on almost every one of the 2 076 days the war in Europe lasted The Command controlled 128 airfields from which some 365 000 sorties were dispatched All this effort and achievement was not without its cost The enemy s defences were formidable the Luftwaffe a tenacious opponent There were heavy losses in aircraft and crews Bombers missing totalled 8 325 bombers damaged 13 778 Out of a total aircrew force of 125 000 all volunteers 55 573 aircrew were killed with an average age of twenty two 8 403 were wounded 9 838 were prisoners of war Many Bomber aircrew came from the Commonwealth countries there was a Canadian Group and Australian and New Zealand Squadrons South African and West Indian aircrew came to help us in our fight together with those who had escaped from Poland Czechoslovakia France and other countries of occupied Europe Much has been written about the effectiveness of the Bomber Offensive The Combined Chiefs of Staff Conference at Casablanca in January 1943 at which President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill were present produced this directive The primary aim of the British and American bomber forces in the United Kingdom would be the progressive destruction and 29

dislocation of the German military industrial and economic system and the undermining of the morale of the German people to the point where their capacity for armed resistance is fatally weakened After the devastating week of attacks on Hamburg in August 1943 when that important port and industrial centre almost ceased to exist Albert Speer Hitler s Armaments Minister said This is what Hitler and Goering wanted to do to London He told his colleagues Another six similar attacks quickly repeated would cripple Germany and might well compel the end of the war Afterwards Speer wrote The real importance of the Bomber Offensive was that it opened a second front long before the invasion of Europe It was the greatest lost battle on the German side For four long years from the evacuation of Dunkirk in 1940 to the invasion of France in 1944 Bomber Command was the only British force that could take the war into the heartland of the enemy Two or three times every week the Command fought a major battle over Germany committing 4 000 to 5 000 airmen in the major attacks Aircrew had to fly a total of thirty operations in the main force squadrons and the odds against completing a tour were so formidable that three out of every five would become casualties The cumulative effect of the Offensive was such that when the British Army crossed the Rhine in late March 1945 the German troops fell back through an industrial graveyard for there was nothing left inside the country to provide resistance Within forty days it was all over Leading German generals stated The reason Germany lost the war was Allied air power and Allied day and night strategic bombing forced Germany on the defensive from the middle of 1940 and Without bombing the war could have lasted for years longer 30 and Allied air power was the greatest single reason for the German defeat Alfred Krupp said that air attacks left his works operating at only 40 per cent of capacity and a tank manufacturer remarked that he was able to produce only 42 Tiger tanks a month in the latter stages of the war instead of 120 Bomber Command gave Churchill what he asked for in 1940 overwhelming mastery in the air but it took four long years of constant and dogged endeavour and immense sacrifice to achieve Yet in his victory broadcast to the nation in May 1945 when he listed what he considered the crucial moments of the war and the key contributors he said not one word about the strategic bombing campaign Sir Arthur Harris always retained his admiration and affection for his old friend Churchill but he never forgot the slight on his men The Prime Minister wrote privately to Harris expressing the nation s gratitude for Bomber Command s glorious part in the victory speaking of duty nobly done and describing its contribution as decisive But the harm had been done and when Churchill had a part in turning down Harris s request for a special Bomber Command campaign medal particularly for the ground crews who had done a marvellous and thankless job and deserved nothing less he felt bitter and betrayed In London there are several memorials relating to the Second World War the New Zealand War Memorial the Commonwealth Memorial the Battle of Britain Memorial the Women of World War Two Memorial and the Animals at War Memorial In Liverpool there is a memorial to those who died in the Battle of the Atlantic But there is no memorial to the 55 573 aircrew who gave their lives in Bomber Command s massive contribution to the victory over Germany and the liberation of Europe Lancaster Bomber with Spitfire and Hurricane fighter escour t from the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight stationed at RAF Coningsby Lincolnshire

Oh I have slipped the surly bonds of ear th And danced the skies on laughter silvered wings Sunward I ve climbed and joined the tumbling mir th of sun split clouds and done a hundred things You have not dreamed of wheeled and soared and swung high in the sunlit silence Hovering there I ve chased the shouting wind along and flung my eager craft through footless halls of air Up up the long delirious burning blue I ve topped the wind swept heights with easy grace where never lark or even eagle flew and while with silent lifting mind I ve trod the high untrespassed sanctity of space put out my hand and touched the face of God John Gillespie Magee Jr 32