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This memorial to World War II Bomber Command airmen was unveiled at Beachy Head in July 2012 after being airlifted to its site by an RAF Chinook from 18 (Bomber) Squadron at RAF Odiham in June.

From 1942 Beachy Head was the major exit point for RAF Bomber Command crews heading for occupied Europe. Almost half the 125,000 Bomber Command airmen died on these missions and this simple stone slabs mark the last part of England seen by most of the 55573 Bomber Command aircrew who never returned from the raids.

The inscription on this side reads:

WORLD WAR II 1939 – 1945

IN TRIBUTE TO THE 110,000 AIRCREW OF THE
ROYAL AIR FORCE BOMBER COMMAND
55,573 GAVE THEIR LIVES IN THE CAUSE OF FREEDOM
11,000 BECAME PRISONERS OF WAR
THEY VOLUNTEERED AND CAME IN THEIR THOUSANDS
FROM THE UNITED KINGDOM, THE COMMONWEALTH
AND THE OCCUPIED COUNTRIES OF EUROPE TO FIGHT
AND DEFEAT A GREAT TYRANNY
FOR MANY, BEACHY HEAD WOULD HAVE BEEN THEIR
LAST SIGHT OF ENGLAND

REMEMBER THEM

On the reverse, there is a picture of a bomber and the words:

WORLD WAR II 1939 TO 1945

BEACHY HEAD WAS THE MAJOR OPERATIONAL ROUTE OUTBOUND FROM
THE UNITED KINGDOM FOR THE AIRMEN OF THE ROYAL AIR FORCE
BOMBER COMMAND, WHEN TAKING THE WAR TO THE ENEMY

THEY FOUGHT IN THE SKIES ABOVE THE ENEMY
AND PAID THE TERRIBLE PRICE THAT WAR DEMANDS


Link “Bomber Command monument airlifted to Beachy Head” BBC News 26 June 2012
Link “Beachy Head Bomber Command memorial is unveiled” BBC News 8 July 2012
Link “Beachy Head finally gets its Bomber Command Memorial” Daily Express 27 June 2012
Link YouTube Video – “RAF Bomber Command Memorial airlifted by Chinook to Beachy Head”