Bomber Command Museum and USAF Memorial Display - RAF Museum, Hendon, London, UK
N 51° 35.845 W 000° 14.263
30U E 691311 N 5719878
This plaque was placed to signify the opening of the "Bomber Command Museum and USAF Memorial Display" by the Queen Mother on 12th April 1983. The RAF Museum has been extended and enhanced since then.
Waymark Code: WMNFZM
Location: London, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 03/09/2015
Views: 2
The RAF Museum is open daily from 10am to 6pm with admission being free. Car parking is available but there is a charge. The nearest underground station is Colindale about a 10-15 minute walk away or a number 303 bus passes both the tube station and museum. The co-ordinates posted are for the entrance to the "Milestones of Flight" hall/exhibition entrance.
The plaque, that is attached to a wall within the RAF Museum, is inscribed in gold lettering that reads:
The Bomber Command Museum
and USAF Memorial Display
opened by
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth
The Queen Mother
12th April 1983
The RAF Museum's website tells us about the "Bomber Hall":
The Bomber Hall exhibition follows the development of the bomber from its first appearance in World War One to the highly sophisticated machines of today. When you visit RAF Museum London you can also find out about the achievements of RAF Bomber Command and the U.S. Army Air Forces in World War Two.
This hall is, in part, a memorial to the 131,000 young men who died during the combined bombing offensive - after the defeats in Europe, the only way the Allies could carry the fight back to Hitler's Germany.
In World War One, the bomber changed the face of conflict forever. For the first time, people far behind the battle lines were under threat from the enemy. In time, the bomber was being used to devastate enormous areas - today the precision of modern weapons helps to minimise civilian loss of life.
The British Monarchy website tells us about the Queen Mother:
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother was the mother of Queen Elizabeth II, the present British sovereign, and the widow of King George VI.
She was born the Honourable Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon on 4 August 1900 (fourth daughter of Lord Glamis, later 14th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne) and spent her early childhood at St Paul's Waldenbury in Hertfordshire, north of the capital. This was the country home of her parents.
The Bowes-Lyon family is descended from the Royal House of Scotland. One of The Queen Mother's 14th-century ancestors, Sir John Lyon, became Thane of Glamis, home of Macbeth 300 years before, and Glamis Castle is the family seat.