Big Lottery Fund
 Printable version
|
 E-mail this to a friend
|
BIG salute to unsung heroes of bomber command
As the Big Lottery Fund approach the historic unveiling of the first national memorial to RAF Bomber Command (June 28th) and the Armed Forces Day commemorations (June 30th) people across the UK will be coming together to remember the many sacrifices made by Britain’s service men and women.
In 1941 Harry Irons volunteered for air crew duty with Bomber Command. He was only 16 but added a year to his age and was accepted for gunnery training. A year later, aged just 17 he was peering at the stars through the mid upper gun turret of a Lancaster Bomber, on route for ‘happy valley’ the industrial Ruhr: heartland of the Nazi war machine. It was his first operation and he was about to fly into the most terrifying and ferociously defended territory in Germany. Approaching the target zone he swung around and looked in horror at the scene ahead: vivid flashes of bombers exploding, blinding searchlights and a ceaseless barrage of enemy shell fire.
This would be his first of over 30 trips to the Ruhr, a prime target for Bomber Command along with key areas across Europe including the notorious V1 and V2 rocket sites at Peenemunde, and Nazi strongholds across France, Belgium and Holland in support of allied advances and the Normandy invasion.
Click here for full press release
