Bomber Command memorial defaced - fallout from Woolwich execution?
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Very very sad; I hope all those near WO Radcliffe will lend some support. It's a changing country and I suppose the rally call is to change with it but there are surely some basic standards that we can all adhere to?
Men like Mr Radcliffe were ordinary men in extraordinary circumstances who rose to the challenge; maybe we can too.
Men like Mr Radcliffe were ordinary men in extraordinary circumstances who rose to the challenge; maybe we can too.
Being reported elsewhere that Mr Radcliffe was looked after by the RAF club and later returned home while the police kept watch. The RAFB who are responsible for the memorials upkeep will have to pay to have it cleansed.
mmitch.
mmitch.
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Does anyone have a contact for who looks after the memorial please?
I will gladly go and clean the memorial - disgusting that it has not already been done (unless being used for evidence of course).
I will gladly go and clean the memorial - disgusting that it has not already been done (unless being used for evidence of course).
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mmitch
Thanks for that sir. Having not seen much in reference, I was compelled to enquire.
My age and position decide what I can do. 18 hours in a Shack was alright all those years ago: but air travel in economy is a little too much.
Nice to see that the niceties were upheld.
Yours aye
JohnB
Thanks for that sir. Having not seen much in reference, I was compelled to enquire.
My age and position decide what I can do. 18 hours in a Shack was alright all those years ago: but air travel in economy is a little too much.
Nice to see that the niceties were upheld.
Yours aye
JohnB
I note that the papers/media have produced a somewhat imbalanced report on all of this without mentioning the many Muslims that died for the Allies during WWI and WWII. For example, Noor Inayat Khan:
Here is the very brave SOE agent, in RAF Uniform, before her sad and untimely death.
The failure by the media/press to mention the Muslim effort in these conflicts fighting on our side only serves to fuel the growing fire of hatred towards all Muslims...
Like has been said elsewhere - there are nutcases in all religions!
The B Word
Noor Inayat Khan, a descendant of the legendary Tipu Sultan, was a secret agent in the Second World War. She was infiltrated into France by the Special Operations Executive (SOE), Churchill’s secret organisation that sought to “set Europe ablaze”.
Armed with only a false passport and a pistol, the beautiful and gentle Noor became the first woman radio operator to be sent to occupied Paris.
However, she was betrayed and captured by the Germans. Despite being repeatedly tortured and interrogated, she revealed nothing. She was executed by an SS officer on September 13, 1944, at Dachau Concentration Camp. She was only 30.
Britain posthumously awarded her the George Cross for her extraordinary bravery, and France honoured her with the Croix de Guerre.
The Noor Inayat Khan Memorial was successful in its campaign to install the memorial of Noor in Gordon Square. On 8 November 2012, HRH The Princess Royal unveiled the memorial at a moving ceremony attended by over 450 people, including Noor's family, veterans, M.Ps, peers, Ambassadors, High Commissioners and guests from India, USA, Germany, Netherlands, France and Russia. A special message from Noor's brother, Hidayat Inayat-Khan was read out. It has been a wonderful journey and we would like to thank everyone for it.
Armed with only a false passport and a pistol, the beautiful and gentle Noor became the first woman radio operator to be sent to occupied Paris.
However, she was betrayed and captured by the Germans. Despite being repeatedly tortured and interrogated, she revealed nothing. She was executed by an SS officer on September 13, 1944, at Dachau Concentration Camp. She was only 30.
Britain posthumously awarded her the George Cross for her extraordinary bravery, and France honoured her with the Croix de Guerre.
The Noor Inayat Khan Memorial was successful in its campaign to install the memorial of Noor in Gordon Square. On 8 November 2012, HRH The Princess Royal unveiled the memorial at a moving ceremony attended by over 450 people, including Noor's family, veterans, M.Ps, peers, Ambassadors, High Commissioners and guests from India, USA, Germany, Netherlands, France and Russia. A special message from Noor's brother, Hidayat Inayat-Khan was read out. It has been a wonderful journey and we would like to thank everyone for it.
Here is the very brave SOE agent, in RAF Uniform, before her sad and untimely death.
The failure by the media/press to mention the Muslim effort in these conflicts fighting on our side only serves to fuel the growing fire of hatred towards all Muslims...
Like has been said elsewhere - there are nutcases in all religions!
The B Word
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Whilst this is a reprehensible act, I always wondered why the Bomber Command Memorial was located in Central London when Bomber Command HQ was at RAF High Wycombe. You know that place called Air Cmd now with the Spitfire and Hurricane outside and no mention of Bomber Command! Perhaps if the affected stone needs to be replaced (As suggested on Radio 4 this evening) the whole memorial should be moved to Air Cmd...
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The odd thing is far from dividing people, after the initial revulsion at the act, it seems to pull the people together from different races and religions in condemning it, so actually has the opposite effect to that they intended.
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I agree with Newt in post #13
I saw the memorial for the first time in March this year, and was very moved by its beauty and purpose.
This is a monument to some very brave men who gave their lives so that the world would be free from murder in the name of race and religion (some of the aircrew would have been Muslim) and this is just awful IMHO.
I saw the memorial for the first time in March this year, and was very moved by its beauty and purpose.
This is a monument to some very brave men who gave their lives so that the world would be free from murder in the name of race and religion (some of the aircrew would have been Muslim) and this is just awful IMHO.
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Perhaps if the affected stone needs to be replaced (As suggested on Radio 4 this evening) the whole memorial should be moved to Air Cmd.
I would suggest that one of the purposes of its location is so that future generations will look on it and it will cause them perhaps to pause and reflect on the valour and sacrifice of so many.
I think (at least I hope) that all those in Air Command both now and in the future will understand that the costs of the decisions they make may be counted in lives, sometimes tens of thousands of them.
"I knew of and honour the memory of Noor Inayat Khan and am very glad to read that she now has a memorial in London. I hadn't been aware of that."
And of course, there is a memorial to her in the Shower Block at KZ Dachau, and it generates a considerable amount of interest there.
And of course, there is a memorial to her in the Shower Block at KZ Dachau, and it generates a considerable amount of interest there.
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It is more than likely that the perpetrator, irrespective of ethnic origin or religion, will be a British citizen.
This is the 'free World' for which the members of Bomber Command fought and died.
KR
SITW
This is the 'free World' for which the members of Bomber Command fought and died.
KR
SITW
I would disagree with any plan to move the memorial to High Wycombe - in any case I am sure that would completely impractical and prohibitively expensive.
Until 2004, policing of the Royal Parks was carried out by the Royal Parks Constabularly, who were separate from the Metropolitan Police. Since its disbandment, responsibility has passed to the Royal Parks Operational Command Unit of the Met. I sincerely hope that questions are being asked of this unit, and that they are taking steps to keep a closer eye on this important memorial. For a start it should be quite straightforward to have CCTV monitoring.
Until 2004, policing of the Royal Parks was carried out by the Royal Parks Constabularly, who were separate from the Metropolitan Police. Since its disbandment, responsibility has passed to the Royal Parks Operational Command Unit of the Met. I sincerely hope that questions are being asked of this unit, and that they are taking steps to keep a closer eye on this important memorial. For a start it should be quite straightforward to have CCTV monitoring.
Last edited by Tankertrashnav; 29th May 2013 at 12:02.
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Perhaps if the affected stone needs to be replaced (As suggested on Radio 4 this evening) the whole memorial should be moved to Air Cmd.
Look at that other historical sandstone building vandalised, that had to be painted white after the Brits of old passed by and torched the place, the soot and smoke had soaked into the stone around the windows and doors which was impossible for them to remove....
Ohh and the place the British vandalised way back in August 1814
Here endeth the history lesson
Last edited by NutLoose; 29th May 2013 at 12:34.
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Vandalised a second time
Vandals hit RAF Bomber Command Memorial again - Crime - London24
Perhaps the police can spare a couple of bobbies to pound the beat in Piccadilly, or are they all to busy providing bodyguards for that poisonous extremist across town.
Perhaps the police can spare a couple of bobbies to pound the beat in Piccadilly, or are they all to busy providing bodyguards for that poisonous extremist across town.
Vile graffiti vandals attack Bomber Command memorial AGAIN | UK | News | Daily Express
No matter which side the perp is on, he is a prat of the first water.
The RAF Bomber Command War Memorial in Green Park, London has been painted with the words: "LEE RIGBY KILLERS SHUD HANG".
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Is that what it says?..... Sigh..... why deface a superb and stunning tribute that was hard fought for, not just during the war, but in the subsequent fundraising to finally and dare I say it belatedly, get a fitting monument to these people we owe so much too....
I do hope the catch the illiterate scrote that did this and make him fully pay for the repairs and then jail him.
One does wonder how these folks would have faired if we had lost the war and we were now part of the so called Third Reich.
My worry is if these folks will see this memorial as a billboard that gets them and their agenda noticed and it becomes frequent, hence the pay and prison to deter others.
..
I do hope the catch the illiterate scrote that did this and make him fully pay for the repairs and then jail him.
One does wonder how these folks would have faired if we had lost the war and we were now part of the so called Third Reich.
My worry is if these folks will see this memorial as a billboard that gets them and their agenda noticed and it becomes frequent, hence the pay and prison to deter others.
..
Last edited by NutLoose; 5th Jun 2013 at 19:26.
Nutloose,
I second your views, any attempt to make a "special" case of this vandalism will only make this hard won memorial a bigger target for all and sundry angry people. Surely in an age when a government can give priority to blokes marrying blokes etc, they can find time to push through a law that penalises, heavily, anyone defacing public monuments and memorials. What happens if and when these idiots, whoever they are, get in to the NM Arboretum at Alrewas ? Whatever, I think that this sort of thing is fairly new so needs nipping in the bud big time. I won't hold my breath for any political priority for it though.
Smudge
I second your views, any attempt to make a "special" case of this vandalism will only make this hard won memorial a bigger target for all and sundry angry people. Surely in an age when a government can give priority to blokes marrying blokes etc, they can find time to push through a law that penalises, heavily, anyone defacing public monuments and memorials. What happens if and when these idiots, whoever they are, get in to the NM Arboretum at Alrewas ? Whatever, I think that this sort of thing is fairly new so needs nipping in the bud big time. I won't hold my breath for any political priority for it though.
Smudge