Bomber Command Centre celebrates 500,000th visitor

Simon Poole and his family were the 500,000th visitors

Lincoln's International Bomber Command Centre (IBCC) has marked welcoming half a million visitors.

Simon Poole, the 500,000th person through the doors, was given a goodie bag to celebrate the occasion on Sunday.

The milestone coincided with the annual InSpire Ride charity motorbike event, which celebrated 80 years since The Great Escape.

Nicky van der Drift, chief executive of the IBCC, said reaching the number earlier than predicted was "quite the achievement", especially given Covid-19 closures.

Bikers gathered for the fundraising Inspire Ride

She said: “We thought it would take seven to eight years to reach this point, so to hit it this early is magnificent."

The IBCC opened in 2018 and holds the worlds’ largest free to access digital heritage collection on Bomber Command.

It contains thousands of first-hand historical accounts, photographs and documents from all sides of the war.

Speaking about the future, Ms van der Drift said she hoped visitor numbers would continue to grow, and said the team would be fundraising for another two buildings to support their learning programme for children and students.

The Great Escape

Sunday's InSpire charity ride marked the 80th anniversary of Allied prisoners of war escaping from from the German prison camp Stalag Luft III in 1944.

Steve McQueen’s iconic Triumph motorbike from the film adaption of the attempt, The Great Escape, was loaned to the IBCC and was on display for visitors.

The Great Escape motorbike was on display

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