Prized Dam Busters collection up for auction to help Bomber Gateway Trust's Lancaster Bomber sculpture fly high to honour World War II airmen
A woman is auctioning her prized collection of Dam Busters memorabilia to raise funds for a sculpture to honour RAF Bomber Command.
During the Second World War 57,000 young airmen from the UK and around the world lost their lives serving Bomber Command.
In a bid to ensure their sacrifice is never forgotten the Bomber Gateway Trust is raising money to build a full-size sculpture of the iconic Avro Lancaster Bomber used during the conflict.
The sculpture will be sited on the county border of Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire near the A46, with some support structures already in place.
The charity hopes it will rival the Angel of the North in terms of impact, but is struggling to raise the £180,000 required to complete the project as donations dry up thanks to the cost-of-living crisis currently hitting the UK.
Efforts to create the major art installation are being hampered further by the soaring price of materials, particularly steel.
To help the project reach it's goal, a passionate supporter of Bomber Gateway Trust has decided to sell her private collection of Dam Busters memorabilia and hopes the sculpture will be completed in time for surviving veterans to see it.
The rare Dam Busters archive will be offered in Hansons Auctioneers’ Militaria sale on October 14 with an estimate of £2,000 to £3,000 and will hopefully shine a light on the project to encourage more support.
One particular item of interest is a signed and dated Latin school book belonging to Wing Commander Guy Gibson, who led the second world war Dam Busters’ raid — a devastating attack on German dams in 1943 carried out by 617 Squadron using bouncing bombs.
The collection also includes; an autograph book signed by Barnes Wallis — who developed the bouncing bomb — dated July 28, 1956, plus other wartime signatures of airmen and civilian.
As well as a Robert Taylor Dam Busters’ print signed by pilots and crew of 617 Squadron RAF Bomber Command including Bill Reid VC, Mick Martin DFC, AFC, Les Munro DFC and 10 other members of 617 Sqn, and a Blue-ray film copy of The Dam Busters signed by Squadron Leader G L Johnson MBE, DFM, the last surviving original member of the Dam Busters.
The Lincolnshire based seller, said: “I know it’s a very difficult time to ask for funds for a charity project, but I hope a keen military collector will dig deep to secure this.
"It’s taken me around 10 years to source the items, it’s my prized possession but it’s sitting in my study doing nothing and I want to use it to help the Bomber Gateway Trust make the art installation project a reality – before it’s too late.
"We hope to invite one of the last remaining Bomber Command survivors, who is now 98, to the unveiling. It would be awful if long delays meant he never got to see it.
“Many people don’t realise what a huge sacrifice Bomber Command airmen made in World War Two, and how many of them died – over 57,000. But for Bomber Command, the war may not have ended when it did."
The collector has also been a Bomber Command researcher for 23 years and explaining her reasons she said: "A farmer friend asked me to look into a World War II air crash on his land on the border between Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire.
"He helped to recover the bodies and, understandably, was deeply affected by it. He wanted to know who the young men were who had lost their lives. I found out their names but didn’t manage to source their photos before the farmer died.
"When I visited him in hospital, he told me to make sure all the young Bomber Command airmen were remembered. So that’s what I’ve been trying to do ever since.”
Charles Hanson, owner of Hansons Auctioneers, said: “It’s a privilege to help our client auction her collection for an important cause.
"We very much hope it will shine a light on the Bomber Gateway Trust charity project. Once built, the Lancaster Bomber sculpture will be an ever-present reminder of the thousands of young airmen who lost their lives fighting for our country.”
The Dam Busters collection will be offered in Hansons Auctioneers’ Medals and Militaria Auction on October 14. All proceeds will go to Bomber Gateway Trust.
