Bomber Command Memorial — Attraction in London

The Bomber Command Memorial is one of several commemorative monuments in this area of the city. This one in particular is quite impressive to see.

Here you will find a well designed memorial building by Liam O'Connor that is dedicated to the 55,573 aircrew who lost their lives during WWII. The memorial was only recently unveiled to the public in 2012.

Within the open air structure with large columns, you can see the attractive 2.7 meter sculpture, created by Philip Jackson, featuring seven crewman, who have just finished a flight mission. The sculpture is quite detailed and worthy of time to admire. It has the ability to invoke strong feelings and emotion.

Overall, we very much enjoyed seeing the Bomber Command Memorial and find it to be a nice addition to the collection of nearby monuments found at the SE Corner of Hyde Park. In our view, this memorial is well worth seeking out if you intend to spend time in this area of the city.

Other similar monuments nearby, at the SE corner of Hyde Park, include the Wellington Arch, Duke of Wellington Statue, Royal Artillery Memorial, Machine Gun Corp Memorial, New Zealand Memorial,...

A touching and long overdue memorial to not only an incredibly brave group of men, but to the civilians who also lost their lives in the bombings. There is an explanation just outside the memorial of the 7 members of a bomber command flight crew on which the statue is based. Their badge is proudly inscribed on the outside wall 'Strike hard, strike sure' There is the comment from Churchill on 1 wall of 'the fighters are our salvation, but the bombers alone provide the means of victory' . The other wall honours the 55,573 air crew lost of the 125,000 who served (44%, this isn't counting the wounded or the captured, of which there were another 17,000! ) There is an opening in the ceiling with the RAF inscription of 'Per ardua and astra' meaning through adversity to the stars . There were several wreaths, one from a family remembering their Uncle who never returned from a mission. One from the Polish honouring all but especially squadrons 300, 301, 304 and 305 whose message ends with 'We will remember them, We will always remember them...

This was on my bucket list. I went on a slightly rainy Friday afternoon. I wanted to pay tribute to the astonishing courage and heroism of Bomber Command who gave so much. I am writing a biography of one of the Dambuster pilots and I have always been upset at the lack of recognition for these heroes. However I was deeply disappointed for the following reasons: The Memorial lacked information about Bomber Command and their contribution. It was sited near a busy main road making quiet reflection impossible. It contained nowhere for people to reflect and consider. The sculpture was wonderful and moving but the rest of the design was uninspiring in huge contrast to the amazing Battle of Britain Memorial in Kent. The Memorial contained no names of those lost. Worst of all it had sponsors names engraved on it including the vile Telegraph and Express Newspaper Groups whose lies and misinformation in recent times are exactly what these heroes fought against.

We can do so much better to remember...