A woman is parting with her prized collection of Dam Busters memorabilia in a bid to raise funds for an iconic sculpture to honour RAF Bomber Command – before it’s too late.
During the Second World War some 57,000 young airmen from the UK and around the world, including Australia and Canada, lost their lives serving Bomber Command.
In a bid to ensure their sacrifice is never forgotten charity Bomber Gateway Trust is raising money to build a full-size sculpture of an Avro Lancaster Bomber. They hope it will rival the Angel of the North in terms of impact.
But with a cost-of-living crisis hitting the UK hard, it’s tougher than ever to gain donations and the project can’t be completed until a further £180,000 is found.
Consequently, a passionate supporter of Bomber Gateway Trust has decided to part with her private collection of Dam Busters memorabilia – gathered over 10 years – to help the project towards its goal. She hopes the sculpture can be created in time for surviving veterans to see it.
It will be sited on the county border of Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire near the A46 and some support structures are in place. However, with materials, particularly steel, soaring in price, efforts to create the major art installation are being hampered.
It’s hoped the sale of the rare Dam Busters archive will boost the charity’s coffers and shine a light on the project to encourage more support. The collection will be offered in Hansons Auctioneers’ Militaria sale on October 12 with an estimate of £2,000-£3,000 – and the seller hopes someone with deep pockets will snap it up.
It includes Guy Gibson’s Latin school book, signed and dated 1934. Wing Commander Guy Penrose Gibson, VC, DSO & Bar, DFC & Bar, was a distinguished RAF bomber pilot. He led the WW2 Dam Busters’ raid, a devastating attack on German dams in 1943 carried out by 617 Squadron using bouncing bombs developed by Barnes Wallis.
In addition, the collection boasts a Robert Taylor Dam Busters’ print signed by pilots and crew of 617 Squadron RAF Bomber Command including Bill Reid VC, Mick Martin DFC, AFC, Les Munro DFC and 10 other members of 617 Sqn; an autograph book signed by Barnes Wallis dated July 28, 1956 plus other wartime signatures of airmen and civilian, and Blue-ray film The Dam Busters signed by Squadron Leader G.L Johnson MBE, DFM, the last surviving original member of the Dam Busters.
Operation Chastise, commonly known as the Dam Busters Raid, was a devastating WW2 attack on German dams in 1943 carried out by 617 Squadron using bouncing bombs developed by Barnes Wallis. The operation was trialled at Derbyshire’s Derwent Reservoir.
The South Lincolnshire seller, a Bomber Command researcher, said: “I know it’s a very difficult time to ask for funds for a charity project, or for anything in fact, but I hope a keen military collector will dig deep to secure this. It’s taken me around 10 years to source the items, mainly at auctions.
“It’s my prized possession but it’s sitting in my study doing nothing. I want to use it to help the Bomber Gateway Trust make the art installation project a reality – before it’s too late. We hope to invite one of the last remaining Bomber Command survivors, who is now 98, to the unveiling. It would be awful if long delays meant he never got to see it.
“Many people don’t realise what a huge sacrifice Bomber Command airmen made in World War Two, and how many of them died – over 57,000. But for Bomber Command, the war may not have ended when it did. Most of the airmen were very young, some only 18 or 19.
“During my research, I sometimes come across letters from heartbroken mothers whose sons went missing in action. They wrote desperately urging the authorities to keep on looking for their sons. In reality, there was little hope their fate would ever be truly known.
“To this day, some families still haven’t found out what happened to these wartime airmen. Some have kept their photos on the sideboard ever since. Even after all these years the pain hasn’t gone.
“I’ve been a Bomber Command researcher for 23 years partly due to a deathbed promise, but also because the research is so fascinating. A farmer friend asked me to look into a WW2 air crash on his land on the border of Nottinghamshire/Lincolnshire. He helped to recover the bodies and, understandably, was deeply affected by it. He wanted to know who the young men were who had lost their lives.
“I found out their names but didn’t manage to source their photos – he wanted to see their faces – before the farmer died. When I visited him in hospital, he told me to make sure all the young Bomber Command airmen were remembered. So that’s why I’ve been trying to do ever since.”
Charles Hanson, owner of Hansons Auctioneers, said: “It’s a privilege to help our client auction her collection for an important cause. We very much hope it will shine a light on the Bomber Gateway Trust charity project. Once built, the Lancaster Bomber sculpture will be an ever-present reminder of the thousands of young airmen who lost their lives fighting for our country.”
The Dam Busters collection will be offered in Hansons Auctioneers’ October 12 Medals and Militaria Auction. All proceeds will go to Bomber Gateway Trust. To find out more, contact head of militaria William Hayward: [email protected]
To learn more about Bomber Gateway Trust visit www.bombergatewaytrust.co.uk.
