Ah Danny ... those golden Battle of Britain Days in early September. As a lineup of Lincolns, Merlins crackling and growling, slowly inched towards the runway for the Operational Takeoff, my father told me to remember the sight and sound for I would never see one again. I can still see the Lincolns thundering off Binbrook's runway as their forebears, the Lancasters, had done so only five years earlier.
So I was delighted this morning to hear from Ray Whiteley, whom I visited at Binbrook in September, that his long-awaited memorial project has come to fruition. The Lincolnshire Wolds are a lovely part of the world and fellow Prunes will find Binbrook worth a visit.
A two-acre site on the former airfield has passed into private ownership, thus ensuring its continued existence as a memorial to bomber crews.
Opened in 1940, RAF Binbrook saw many operational types flying from its airfield on top of the Wolds and was for a time the home of 460 (RAAF) Squadron under the command of Wing Commander Hughie Edwards VC.
Operating Lancaster bombers over enemy-occupied Europe, 460 Squadron suffered typically heavy losses and site custodian Ray Whiteley has long made it his goal to turn the RAF Binbrook Heritage Centre into a lasting memorial to the lost aircrew.
To this end, he has built the 460 Squadron Royal Australian Air Force Identification Square Memorial and the Hughie Edwards VC Memorial and has carried out extensive tree planting to form the Bomber Command Memorial Park. Trees have been planted in Fairey Battle, Wellington and Lancaster Avenues with each tree representing a crew member of those particular aircraft types who failed to return.
The land, formerly the site of RAF Binbrook's air traffic control tower and fire section until their demolition after the station closed in 1989, has also for some years been the home of the Lightning Association's English Electric Lightning F6 XR724, a preserved example of the iconic Cold War fighter in full engine-running condition. Another Lightning, T5 XS457, also stored at the site in component parts, is awaiting reassembly. A small museum houses numerous aircraft artefacts, some of which have been found by Ray during exploration of the site, and photos of former RAF Binbrook aircraft and personnel.
Commemorative benches are placed amongst the trees and Ray reports a steady stream of UK and overseas visitors who come to visit the place from where their relatives flew operational missions.
Until recently, however, the land was owned by the company Winchester Marine who, whilst generously allowing Ray and the Lightning Association to occupy and develop the site, were unable to offer long-term security of tenure. The transfer was recently concluded and Ray and Charles Ross are now very happy in the knowledge that the memorial to the brave bomber crews and RAF Binbrook's association with the famous Lightning fighter are preserved forever.
For further information on the RAF Binbrook Heritage Centre, please visit website
www.binbrook.demon.co.uk.