Batemans Bay’s Bob Wade has returned from England where he attended the opening of the International Bomber Command Centre in Lincoln on April 12.
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Although the 92-year-old found the two-week trip strenuous, he “wouldn’t have missed this very special occasion for the world”.
“It was an opportunity to remember the many air crew who were lost or incapacitated during the World War II,” Mr Wade said.
“The centre commemorates, and names the 57,861 men and women from 60 nations who lost their lives serving in or supporting Bomber Command. It was very moving to see how young most of them were when they were killed, with the average age only 23.”
Mr Wade was the youngest of 15 Australian air veterans on the trip organised by the Bomber Command Association of Australia with Department of Veterans’ Affairs’ support. He was also the youngest of the 300 international veterans who attended.
“Success came at a huge cost, with 44 per cent of crew members killed while serving.”
- Batemans Bay WW2 navigator Bob Wade
“The centre will keep alive the memory of how the strategic bombing of Germany and occupied Europe curtailed the war years ahead of an unthinkable alternative,” he said. “Success came at a huge cost, with 44 per cent of crew members killed while serving.”
Veterans visited the Bomber Command memorial in Green Park, London, unveiled by Queen Elizabeth in 2012.
“Members of the group, including family members who lost relatives, and members of the Air Cadets, laid wreaths to commemorate those who died,” Mr Wade said.
They lunched at the Royal Air Force Club, opposite the memorial and visited St Clement Danes Church. Designed by Christopher Wren in 1682, it was burnt out in the war but rebuilt as the RAF church in 1958.
“Our group was welcomed at several RAF bases, where we inspected museums marking the work of airmen during World War II,” Mr Wade said.
“A visit to the Pathfinders Museum at RAF Wyton was a highlight, but also an emotional day. I feel honoured to have been selected for the Pathfinder Force as a navigator, flying across Europe in a wooden-framed Mosquito aircraft with a crew of just two – pilot and navigator.”
Mr Wade’s daughter Elizabeth Masters accompanied him to England.
“It was special to see how much today’s RAF men and women revered the Bomber Command veterans for their part in saving Britain from invasion during World War II,’ she said.
“They really enjoyed meeting and chatting with the Australians, whose ages ranged from 92 to 98.”
The group visited codebreaking centre Bletchley Park, the Imperial War Museum at Duxford and the Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre.
Also on their itinerary were visits to pubs frequented by flyers during the war, including the Eagle Hotel at Cambridge, the Blue Bell Inn in Lincolnshire (built in 1257 and thought to be the third-oldest pub in England) and Petwood Hotel, the home of the famous Dambusters squadron.
