RAF Benevolent Fund holds annual Bomber Command Memorial Service

On Sunday 29 June, the RAF Benevolent Fund held its annual Bomber Command Memorial Service at the Bomber Command Memorial in Green Park, London. 

The service served as a powerful and moving tribute to the 55,573 Bomber Command airmen from the UK and around the world who lost their lives during the Second World War.

As guardians of the Bomber Command Memorial, the RAF Benevolent Fund held the annual service which was attended by Bomber Command veterans, supporters of the Fund and Memorial, and representatives from the Commonwealth and Allied nations involved in Bomber Command.

Bomber Command veteran Michael Woods, 101, who served as a mechanic, working on the 12-cylinder Rolls-Royce Merlin engines that powered the Lancaster bombers, was in attendance. He was joined by Dr James Burt, 103, who was a Medical Officer at RAF Waddington and RAF Scampton from 1946-48, looking after the Dambusters 617 Squadron.

Former Bomber Command Pilot, 102-year-old George Dunn (DFC LdH) attended the service – during the Second World War, George flew a total of 44 operations with Nos 76, 608 and 104 Squadrons, 30 in Halifax bombers over targets in industrial Germany and 14 in Mosquitos bombing Berlin. Colin Bell (DFC AE FRICS), 104, a former Mosquito Bomber Pilot who carried out 40 bombing raids over Germany during the war, was also present.

Each veteran laid a wreath at the memorial, paying respect to their lost comrades.

The service was led by Rev (Sqn Ldr) Andrew Chapman, Station Chaplain at RAF High Wycombe, and included epitaphs from Bomber Command crew read by members of the University of London Air Squadron, along with a minute’s silence and the laying of wreaths in remembrance of all who were lost. The service marked the thirteenth anniversary of the Memorial’s unveiling.

A Lancaster from the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight (BBMF) flew over the Memorial three times, with the Chief of Air Staff in the aircraft. 

Richard Daniel, Chairman of the RAF Benevolent Fund, said: “We were proud and privileged to once again host the Bomber Command Service, paying tribute to the 55,573 Bomber Command crew who lost their lives during the Second World War. As the official guardian of the Bomber Command Memorial, it is our honour to ensure the noble sacrifice of those who lost their lives, and the families whose lives were forever changed by war, will always be remembered.”

You can continue to honour the memory of those who have bravely gone before by supporting the Fund's Bomber Command Remembrance Fund, to help the veterans they served alongside, and the serving personnel who follow in their footsteps, going through difficult times today.

Click here to view all the Bomber Command Memorial Service photos.