Second World War RAF crews have been honoured after a life size sculpture of a Lancaster bomber has been built in Lincolnshire.
The steel structure, called On Freedoms Wings, commemorates World War Two RAF crews who served in the region, known as “Bomber County”.
It can be seen from the A46 between Newark and Lincoln at Norton Disney and rests on huge steel beams to make it look like it’s flying to passers-by.
The project has been an eight-year labour of love for the Bomber County Gateway Trust and the charity’s vision has now come to life.
Second World War RAF crews have been honoured after a life size sculpture of a Lancaster bomber has been built in Lincolnshire
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GB NEWS
Charlie White, Chairman of Bomber County Gateway Trust, told GB News: “This is a bit of a county landmark here on the edge of Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire to thank the RAF and the county, because it’s known as Bomber County with 40 RAF bases here during the war.
“We’ve based this plane, this Avro Lancaster, on one that crashed in the woods behind us in 1942, on the September 19.
“Sadly, four of the crew died, three survived, and so we’ve based it on that sort of banking home, you know, as it’s flying around back to RAF Swindle Abbey on its final mission home.”
The iconic landmark can be seen by 34,000 motorists daily as they drive along the A46 as it’s over 30m tall and larger than the Angel of the North.
David Starling, Director, Timmins Engineering and Construction, told GB News: “We’re the company that have actually fabricated the structure itself and we’ve built the Lancaster and we’ve been doing that over the last five or six years.
“The final structure weighs over 100 tonnes in itself and the substructure weighs 75 tonnes and then the biggest single fabricated piece is 25 tonnes.
“I’m a proud Lincolnshire lad and I’m very proud of the county and it’s history as bomber county and the 55,000 men and servicemen and women of Bomber Command that actually never made it home during the war.
“Both my grandfathers were in the RAF during the war, and it’s [the statue] as much as a little honor to them and little doff of the cap to them and it’s my way of honouring their legacy.”
The 100-tonne sculpture has cost up to £1million and has been built thanks to hundreds of thousands of pounds in charitable donations and tireless volunteer work by members of the Bomber County Gateway Trust.
David Morley, Fundraiser for Bomber County Gateway Trust, said: “My history is my father being in World War one as a bomber pilot and then World War Two as the local Captain Mannering, which meant he attended a lot of crash sites.
“I first sat in a Lancaster Bomber in 1946.
The steel structure, called On Freedoms Wings, commemorates World War Two RAF crews who served in the region, known as ‘Bomber County’
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GB NEWS
“I like to fly vintage World War Two aircraft, so I rented a P-51 Mustang and an instructor and flew up and flew around the area, did aerobatics and raised quite a sum of money for the project.
“Hopefully it’ll be a tourist attraction like the Angel of the North and we’ll draw in people and funds will follow suit because we’d love people to keep on donating, mainly for the maintenance.”
The next step in the project is to create a viewing area to allow people to walk underneath On Freedoms Wings and honour the county’s Second World War RAF crews.
Around £20,000 is still needed to fund the project and you can click here to donate.
