Anyone fancy a walk ?
Thread Starter
Anyone fancy a walk ?
The Bomber Command Memorial needs £2 Mil.
It's going to be up to us again. I suggest a sponsored walk from Lincoln to the Mohne Dam (Relays etc, with people walking 25-50Miles).
Would love to get the ball rolling, but deploy soon. Anyone in the UK for the next 6 months (long shot, I know) interested in picking this up?
MGD
It's going to be up to us again. I suggest a sponsored walk from Lincoln to the Mohne Dam (Relays etc, with people walking 25-50Miles).
Would love to get the ball rolling, but deploy soon. Anyone in the UK for the next 6 months (long shot, I know) interested in picking this up?
MGD
Last edited by minigundiplomat; 4th Nov 2008 at 21:54.
Thread Starter
Yeah me too depending on dates. What we need is someone to organise it. Dip/Land clearance, liaison and approaching Hertz etc for the loan of a support wagon etc.
Someone must possess the skills and need their SJAR fattened up?
Someone must possess the skills and need their SJAR fattened up?
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Refining a nice idea - maybe?
Notwithstanding our rapprochement with our German allies (eg the exchange officer who organised the Boulmer BoB party with the slogan "Ve vere at ze battle, ve vill be at ze pissup, ja?"), wouldn't it work better from the Moehne to Scampton? - remembering at each stage of the return journey those who never made it, route from Harwich via many Bomber Command bases, and more effective press coverage at the end, with the Arrows in full flow above?
And care should be taken. Not decrying 617s magnificent and terrible heritage (9 crews lost out of 19 in one night), but Bomber Command's real courage was the thousands who faced up to 3% losses night after night, which for a crew on 2 raids a week added (multiplied?) up to a 50/50 chance of being dead in 3 months.
The only fear worse, I understand from my father, was when the war in Europe ended and large numbers of Bomber Command crews were earmarked for operations against Japan. Crews believed that over Germany, they would at least survive if they got out of the aircraft alive.
Sven
And care should be taken. Not decrying 617s magnificent and terrible heritage (9 crews lost out of 19 in one night), but Bomber Command's real courage was the thousands who faced up to 3% losses night after night, which for a crew on 2 raids a week added (multiplied?) up to a 50/50 chance of being dead in 3 months.
The only fear worse, I understand from my father, was when the war in Europe ended and large numbers of Bomber Command crews were earmarked for operations against Japan. Crews believed that over Germany, they would at least survive if they got out of the aircraft alive.
Sven
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A valid point - is the expenditure justified, and if yes, should not a fundraising effort contain a proportion towards help for the survivors? The survivors of Bomber Command are now in their mid-to-late 80s. RBL and other Service charities do their best, but more money would be appreciated and it could be argued that our greatest redeemable debt is to those who live with the scars.
Sven
Sven
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You can count me in. I'd definately be up for helping organising it aswell, I like getting my teeth stuck into this sort of thing especially when its for such a worthy cause.
minigundiplomat could you send me a PM with your thoughts?
Cheers
minigundiplomat could you send me a PM with your thoughts?
Cheers
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As an [ex] Fighter Command person,
Why not a sponsored walk from Scampton to Derwent Water....and back
And a Sponsored Golf Tournament at Woodhall Spa... or any RAF affiliated Golf Clubs.
Just a thought, 'cos I'd be up for it....
watp, iktch
Why not a sponsored walk from Scampton to Derwent Water....and back
And a Sponsored Golf Tournament at Woodhall Spa... or any RAF affiliated Golf Clubs.
Just a thought, 'cos I'd be up for it....
watp, iktch
Thread Starter
Thanks for all the PM's and positive feedback. I think we can do this, as a break from the normal round of sniping. We all possess useful skills, it's time to put them to good use.
FANTAMAN is keen to take on this task, and I would urge anyone interested in walking, or feels they have some skill to offer to get in touch with him.
As for whether £2 Mil is needed, I don't know, but I can't see RAFA having an ulterior motive, so lets just get behind them.
Thanks and good luck.
FANTAMAN is keen to take on this task, and I would urge anyone interested in walking, or feels they have some skill to offer to get in touch with him.
As for whether £2 Mil is needed, I don't know, but I can't see RAFA having an ulterior motive, so lets just get behind them.
Thanks and good luck.
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I'm in. 55000 reasons to support this great cause.
For any given 100 aircrew in Bomber Command, 1939-1945,
the statistical breakdown was:
Killed on operations 51
Killed in crashes in England 9
Seriously injured 3
Prisoner of War 12
Evaded capture 1
Survived unharmed 24
For any given 100 aircrew in Bomber Command, 1939-1945,
the statistical breakdown was:
Killed on operations 51
Killed in crashes in England 9
Seriously injured 3
Prisoner of War 12
Evaded capture 1
Survived unharmed 24
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I'd be interested. My Dad was in the RAF during WW2 - nothing exciting due to his eyesight but he served from 39-45 in the admin side of things...He often spoke of the bombers going out, the great mass of planes in the sky and the planes returning in single numbers, shot to pieces, falling apart or crashing on the runway...
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I'm up for it
I'll help on the organisational front. I helped with the safety planning for a Parachute Regiment Association do at Old Sarum last year, (it's my job - lokul guvinmint 
) and I'm sure I can get one or two of the other guys who wer on the team to lend a hand - call in a few favours etc. as we're ot planning anything for 2009 at the moment.
I liked the sound of the golf tournament in one of the other posts as well - maybe we could factor that in at some time??
Let me know one way or t'uther.
) and I'm sure I can get one or two of the other guys who wer on the team to lend a hand - call in a few favours etc. as we're ot planning anything for 2009 at the moment.I liked the sound of the golf tournament in one of the other posts as well - maybe we could factor that in at some time??
Let me know one way or t'uther.
Thread Starter
sorry I'm late to this thread - did someone mention drugs? wehey I'm in...........and you think you're gay MGD? oh well each to his own....
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A trip to Germany sounds like a rather dodgy idea to me. There is a fair chance that any route would pass through areas where Bomber Command was not too popular in WW2 or even now, especially near any dams that were breached or cities that got pasted. It would be rather like rubbing their inhabitants' noses in it - again - and we should be beyond all that. Perhaps the fund-raising effort should be confined to the UK and could involve a route that took in all of the airfields that hosted bombers during the War. After all, this should be about what Bomber Command did for us rather than against someone else.