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Post by oggie2620 on Aug 28, 2010 1:48:05 GMT 12
From the Bomber Command Memorial site on Facebook: So, as part of our campaign to raise money for the memorial to honour the 55,573 men of Bomber Command who gave their lives in WWII, members of the public from around the world are being invited to donate £20 or more to have their personal messages and photographs placed in a time capsule. It will be buried within the foundations of the memorial, which is to be unveiled in late 2011, and will stand for 1000’s of years. The time capsule will also include the name, rank and serial number of all the members of RAF Bomber Command, as well as personal messages from key political figures and Commonwealth heads of state. During the construction of the memorial in London’s Green Park, a protective pipe will secure a tunnel within the foundations, allowing the time capsule to be placed there just before the final unveiling of the memorial. All those who have already donated to the memorial, and whose contact details are available to the Bomber Command Association (the organisation behind the memorial), will also be able to place messages within the time capsule. Donations can be made, and pictures and messages uploaded via www.bombercommand.com/timecapsuleI hope you all agree that this is a great way to not only raise money, but allow all the people who do to become part of the memorial for ever.
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Post by pjw4118 on Sept 6, 2010 10:41:18 GMT 12
The NZBCA has raised 3000UKP and sent it over.We have a trust account for donations which are sent in batches to save bank transfer fees. Also $20 of the $70 for numbered and signed copies of Kiwis Do Fly goes into this fund.
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Post by oggie2620 on Sept 29, 2010 5:16:21 GMT 12
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Post by oggie2620 on Sept 29, 2010 5:17:36 GMT 12
The NZBCA has raised 3000UKP and sent it over.We have a trust account for donations which are sent in batches to save bank transfer fees. Also $20 of the $70 for numbered and signed copies of Kiwis Do Fly goes into this fund. As usual you Kiwis are so generous and I will get you to sign my copy when you come over here!!!! Dee
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Post by oggie2620 on Sept 30, 2010 5:01:35 GMT 12
Gentleman/ladies if you buy some special cards from this website then the artist is going to donate to Bomber Command Memorial Fund via www.aviationartcards.com/ christmas is coming and these might be the cards to send! Dee
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Post by oggie2620 on Oct 6, 2010 10:32:15 GMT 12
Hi guys another update on something someone is trying to do to raise mney for this must have memorial:
Dee
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Post by oggie2620 on Nov 12, 2010 21:49:07 GMT 12
Some more good news courtesy of MOD oracle forum: DAILY Express owner Richard Desmond has matched the generosity of readers by donating £500,000 to help build a memorial to the Second World War heroes of Bomber Command. His gift today, as the nation marks Armistice Day, means that the newspaper has raised £1million in barely a month, putting the campaign on track to build the £5million monument in Green Park, central London. Campaigners, who are still counting a mountain of cash and cheques that has flooded in, are agonisingly close to reaching their target, but are still appealing for more donations. They were overjoyed yesterday after learning of Mr Desmond's decision to match readers' gifts pound-for-pound from his personal pocket. www.dailyexpress.co.uk/posts/view/210844If you want to follow up and get more information on what is going on try: www.modoracle.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=13838&PID=85529#85529
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Post by Dave Homewood on Nov 12, 2010 22:26:39 GMT 12
Wow, that is fantastic. It is great to see that the public in Britain care enough to donate to this despite the poor economic times, and amazing to see one chap donate £500,000 like that. Britlliant.
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Post by oggie2620 on Nov 12, 2010 22:30:29 GMT 12
Also from MOD Oracle: We now have RAF Bomber Command Wristbands email bombercommandnl @ gmail.com To get information on how to Donate 2 pounds or more to get a free wristband Help spread the word and support the Bomber Command Memorial Fund
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Post by oggie2620 on Nov 29, 2010 6:32:12 GMT 12
Another one from MOD Oracle. How come CNN got this first I want to know: To honour the aircrew of RAF Bomber Command who lost their lives during the Second World War.The announcement today means that a campaign to raise £5 million has reached it’s target, and what many see as a major injustice will be finally put right. Until now, the bomber aircrews are the only WWII veterans not to have been publicly acknowledged for their role in defeating Nazi Germany, despite the fact they accounted for 10 per cent of the British Commonwealth’s overall fatalities. The Portland stone pavilion at the Picadilly entrance to London’s Green Park will be completed by early 2012. It will pay tribute to 55,573 crewmembers who made the ultimate sacrifice, With an average age of just 22, all of them were volunteers for flying duties. Bomber Command's role was to attack Germany's airbases, troops, shipping and industrial complexes connected to the war effort. But the tactic of area bombing of cities by night, which targeted the civilian population, has been seen as controversial ever since. Leading supporter and fundraiser Robin Gibb of the Bee Gees said: These guys are heroes - they saved the world and they deserve the best. The whole world, including Germany, is free today because of Bomber Command’s sacrifice.’ Churchill himself stated in 1940: ‘The fighters are our salvation but the bombers alone provide the means of victory.’ An extraordinary mix of people from all over the world flew during WWII with Bomber Command, included are Canadians, Australians, New Zealanders, Poles, Czechs, South Africans, French, Americans, Jamaicans and Rhodesians.Likewise donations to the memorial fund have also have been received from all around the globe. In the virtual world of ‘Second Life, the wartime service of airmen (and women) of all air forces was recognised at the simulated aerodrome of RAF Maysfield on November 11th Remembrance/Veterans day. A static display of over 30 aircraft types was arranged for visitors to inspect and a solemn flag lowering ceremony and 2 minutes silence were conducted at the appointed hour of 11 am in the UK. Thanks are due to the station commander, avatar Group Captain Jane Zane and her staff for the efficient organisation of the event. This station is not at all warlike in that it has a peacetime setting and celebrates the achievements of people in engineering and aviation. Similarly the new London monument will not be a celebration of the bombing of Germany, but a tribute to the memory of the those young men in RAF Bomber Command who gave us their all. ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-519337?ref=feeds%2Foncnn
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Post by oggie2620 on Nov 30, 2010 11:41:13 GMT 12
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Post by Peter Lewis on Nov 30, 2010 14:15:48 GMT 12
A £25,000 tree? That's a damned expensive piece of shrubbery.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Nov 30, 2010 15:13:09 GMT 12
This is truly bizarre. For a start the tree was planted in 1945 to commemorate the Potsdam Meeting. Why is it not left there to continue that commemoration. And let's not forget that it was at the Potsdam Meeting that it was decided to nuke Japan.
Secondly, what happens if the move kills the tree?
Thirdly, with the massive expense of shifting a 65 year old + tree not only from one country to another but across the sea and everything, wouldn't the project have been much better off with just the money, and perhaps a cutting from the tree propogated up to grow big itself?
Fourthly - I quote from that article: "If all the funds are not in place by the deadline, the memorial will not be completed for the scheduled unveiling in November next year. The project would have to be shelved until 2013 because of building restrictions during the Queen's Diamond Jubilee year in 2012." Bloody hell, I wouldn't want to be a builder in britain in 2012 if no-one's allowed to build stuff just because the Queen's getting old.
Also when I look at the Memorial and the money they are spending, though I love the sentiments and reasons behind it I wonder why they are spending millions of pounds to build something that looks to be a garden ornament from the 1700's and has nothing to do with Bomber Command. Why not spend that money on restoring and preserving an actual Bomber Command station instead? or even just a control tower and a hangar amde into a permanent museum. Some fibreglass Lancasters and Wellingtons form the Weta moulds would be far more interesting than an Inigo Jones style block shed like they are building. Or am I missing something? Is there goinf to be 21st Century 3D films and the likes inside the memorial??
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Post by pjw4118 on Nov 30, 2010 19:10:10 GMT 12
Dave, I agree with you 100%. Having to raise $100,000 for the small NZBCA bronze now in the Auckland WM Museum a full size bronze of one crew member was $600,000. I will ask Tony Iveson ( ex 617 Sq and VP of the RAF Trust ) but I think it is more of the regulations that a Regency style memorial is demanded for Green Park. So in 200 years it will be another of the many historic monuments. Remember the problem of finding a home for the fibreglass Park statue. I know that MOTAT has offered it a home as the UK possibles didnt like the material !!
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Post by pjw4118 on Nov 30, 2010 19:22:27 GMT 12
Dave I agree with you 100%. It cost $100,000 for our bronze marquette for NZBCA now in the Auckland WM Museum while a full size single airman was $600,000. I think that the London cost is more the requirments of the London Authority for Green Park needing a Regency syle building so in 200 years it is part of the memorial trail. Laugh not, as the Duke of Richmonds land in Knightbridge requires all "houses" to have their front doors painted either Royal blue, green or red. I will ask Tony Iveson ( of 617 Sq and VP of the Trust ) why the BCA memorial is of the scale proposed.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Nov 30, 2010 21:14:12 GMT 12
Wow, that's a lot of money for the NZ bronze statue, I had no idea it cost so much. But it was money well spent in my opinion, I spent a good while looking at it from many angles on my last visit to the Auckland War Memorial Musuem (the first time I'd seen the statue by the way) and noticed a lot of people stopped and gazed at it too, obviously pondering the thought of all those men lost. It has the right affect.
Regarding the Green Park regulations, I can understand that completely as some of the things modern architects come up with as designs are worse than the nightmares of the Doctor Who props department and would be complete blotts on the landscape for eternity. But did the Bomber Command memorial actually have to be in Green Park? Why not at IWM Lambeth or somewhere else more appropriate?
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Post by pjw4118 on Dec 1, 2010 15:46:08 GMT 12
Its right across the road from the RAF Club ! As we found out with the councils it always seems a problem of where , not what , especially as there are now memorials to all sorts of service. In England a few hundred acres of parkland has been set aside I think in Hampshire which is divided Army , Navy , Air force and Merchant Marine and possibly other service arms where memorials are welcome subject to size but with the requirement that a tree be planted as well. Perhaps Dee can tell us more.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Dec 1, 2010 15:57:25 GMT 12
Thanks Peter, well that makes a lot more sense now that I know its proximity to the RAF Club. Cheers.
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Post by oggie2620 on Dec 2, 2010 10:13:12 GMT 12
I hope you dont want to shoot the messenger gents plz... I take your point reference the tree. I love the memorial in the Auckland War Memorial Museum so I just support the idea of there being something. Again I take your points but its above my pay band. Oh by the way Glen mentioned something about someone raising money ($NZ70K) for a memorial to Sgt James Allen Ward. Must get him to put something on the forum about it.
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Post by oggie2620 on Dec 31, 2010 0:12:29 GMT 12
Picked this up on the UK MOD Oracle site: Andrew Robathan (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Defence Personnel, Welfare and Veterans), Defence; South Leicestershire, Conservative) May I take this opportunity to pay tribute to those of Bomber Command and, indeed, to the whole of the Royal Air Force during the second world war? They fought to defend our freedom so successfully and we owe them an enormous amount. I can confirm that the review of the rules governing the award of medals will report to me and that work is now under way. There are meetings his week-and I am also having meetings about a Bomber Command memorial, which will go up opposite the Royal Air Force Club in St James's park. It is a very fine memorial, and I look forward to it being erected and to paying proper tribute to Bomber Command, which I know some people feel has been slightly forgotten. Source: www.theyworkforyou.com/debates
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