Veterans fury as hateful vandals
spray word 'Islam' on Bomber Command Memorial
THERE was outrage last night after two war memorials were defaced in the
wake of last week’s murder of a British soldier on a London street.
Vandals sprayed the word “Islam” in red paint on the Bomber Command Memorial
in the capital’s Green Park and on the £2million Animals In War memorial
opened by Princess Anne on Park Lane.
Police covered up the graffiti after it was discovered at 5am yesterday. No
arrests have been made.
Officers are investigating whether they were carried out by radicalised
Muslims – or by right-wing extremists seeking to fuel anti-Islamic
sentiments provoked by the Woolwich terrorist attack.
Bomber Command veterans slammed the “very distressing” actions at their
memorial to the 55,573 men who died liberating Europe from the Nazis.
Douglas Radcliffe MBE, secretary of the Bomber Command Association, said:
“55,573 chaps died to give every man, woman and child in this country the
freedom of speech, movement and religion, so to see this happen is
absolutely disgraceful.”
Veteran Dave Fellowes, 89, said the attack “beggared belief”. He said: “Our
war was not against Islam but Nazism. The memory of all those who died
fighting for this country has been defaced.”
Officially opened by the Queen last year, the memorial was built following a
Daily Express fund-raising crusade which saw generous readers donate
£500,000 to the cause – a sum matched by this newspaper’s proprietor Richard
Desmond.
The campaign was spearheaded by late Bee Gees star Robin Gibb. Yesterday his
son RJ said: “These men were the living, breathing apparatus on which the
free world foundations were built. They gave everything for us, the ultimate
sacrifice.”
The vandalism comes less than a week after Drummer Lee Rigby, 25, was
butchered outside Woolwich barracks. Muslim Labour MP Khalid Mahmood
branded those responsible for the graffiti a “disgrace” who had trampled on
the memory of brave service personnel.
He said: “These are veterans who have protected our freedoms and way of life
through their courage and valour. These vandals have enjoyed those
freedoms.”
The paint attacks come less than a week since Dame Judi Dench became the
first patron of the Upkeep Club, which funds maintenance of the Bomber
Command memorial.