Celebs back £3m Bomber Command memorial museum campaign

The Chadwick Centre museum will be built next to the Memorial Spire and name walls which were unveiled last year

A campaign to raise £3m in three months for a Bomber Command museum has been launched with celebrity backing.

The International Bomber Command Centre unveiled its 102ft (31.09m) high spire near Lincoln last year.

It is now raising the last funds needed to build the Chadwick Centre, which aims to tell the story of World War Two in the air and its effect on civilians.

Lincolnshire was home to Bomber Command, which carried out the RAF's strategic bombing raids in the war.

International Bomber Command Centre said it had received backing from Dame Judi Dench, John Sergeant, Dan Snow and Carole Vorderman

The museum will be named in honour of Roy Chadwick, the engineer who designed the Lancaster bomber, and will feature interactive displays, artwork and interviews.

But it will also tell the sometimes controversial story of its effect on life in occupied Europe.

Historian Dan Snow said it was important for the museum to be in Lincolnshire because of its inextricable link with the campaign.

"For lots of young men who didn't come back, Lincolnshire was their last taste of home," he said.

"But we do have to accept that huge amounts of damage was done to Europe - many, many, many civilians killed, countless buildings of historic importance destroyed and it's important we have these memorials because we need to talk about that dark past and we need to be sure future generations avoid making those same mistakes."

Nicky Barr, who is leading the campaign, said they had celebrity backing from Dame Judi Dench, Carole Vorderman, John Sergeant and former pop musician Jim Dooley who spearheaded the project for a London memorial.

She added: "There is an urgency to this. We've already said goodbye this year to six veterans and they are all of an age. It's important we get this job done."

The Chadwick Centre will be built close to the Memorial Spire and walls which carry the names of those who died in the campaign.

The spire is 102ft (31.09m) high - the length of the wingspan of a Lancaster Bomber