Bomber Command memorial: Designs go on public display

A 50m-tall steel spire with names engraved on it features in one of the proposals

Three large columns representing searchlights lead to a granite wall of names in one of the designs

One of the designs has a huge lens located at the end of a runaway

Three designs for a memorial to Bomber Command personnel who died in World War II are being put on public display in six locations.

Organisers said the memorial will be located on a hill overlooking Lincoln.

More than 25,000 air crew from Bomber Command based in Lincolnshire died in the war.

The displays will start in Barton-Upon-Humber on Saturday and will continue in RAF Waddington, RAF Cranwell, Sleaford and two locations in Lincoln.

Stained glass

The designs include a 50m (164ft) steel spire of names, three tall searchlights leading to a granite wall of names, and a huge engraved glass lens at the end of a runway.

A spokesman for the Lincolnshire Bomber Command Memorial said they were looking for feedback on the three designs, adding that the project cost would depend on which design was chosen.

The memorial on Canwick Hill in Lincoln would also include an interpretation centre that would be used by school pupils and other visitors.

The Queen unveiled a Bomber Command memorial in London in 2012

Lincolnshire Bomber Command Memorial spokesman Chris Heighton said: "It is really important that the memorial is a location of remembrance but we also want to do something that is culturally significant."

The organisers hope the project will be completed in time to mark the 70th anniversary of the official end of World War II in Europe.

The proposed site is on a hill overlooking Lincoln Cathedral and planning approval would be needed to build there, a memorial spokesman added.

The aim of both the memorial and the interpretation centre is to encourage remembrance and "an education on the history that is such an integral part of the nation and specifically the county", they said.

Other existing memorials to the Bomber Command include a statue unveiled in Green Park in London in June 2012 and a stained glass window and a ledge stone of remembrance at Lincoln Cathedral.