How Volunteering Saved My Life…
Volunteering saved my life. It all started on 24th August 2014, two Avro Lancasters and my natural curiosity led me to Google, and to learn that the Lincolnshire Bomber Command Centre was asking for volunteers. My love of history and having grown up with stories from grandparents, how could I resist?
My first foray was to research the losses database, from which I discovered a renewed passion for World War 2 history and the people who had served. Both my grandfathers served, though neither in the RAF. So, I actually blame Richard Todd and the Dam Busters movie for that.
Fascinated by history and learning that Bomber Command had been ignored and vilified after the war made me angry. I believe that anyone who serves their country is due respect. If volunteering at the IBCC could help right the wrong, then I was going to do it.
Once I had done the losses database the foundation for the centre, I began spreading my wings. One of these was interviewing veterans for the archives. What a pleasure and honour that was. Many-a-happy afternoon chatting with a veteran who didn’t believe that had anything to say. That their story was not of interest. Only to find a few hours later and they had told their entire life story. Often having told stories and escapades that even their own family didn’t know about.
It was, and is, a lovely feeling knowing that I am helping to build a memorial and archive that can serve their memories for now and for future generations. What better way to learn history than to hear it from the people who were actually there? They are the ultimate storytellers of events that soon will become faded to many people. Too many generations between today and then.
I found the more I volunteered, in whatever capacity, the more addicted I got. The more I needed to know and learn. When I first began, I knew very little, now my nickname is ‘The Oracle’. I spend my days answering questions or solving genealogy puzzles.
Not only did I volunteer for the archives, but I needed my fix more often, and so began helping at events and functions. I was travelling a round-trip of 320 miles about every two months to be able to assist where possible, and when the opening came, I was here for a whole week. But with the opening came the knowledge that my volunteering days would be coming to an end.
I was bereft and lost. I was still on contact with people at the archives and centre, but something was missing. So, on a whim, I ‘jokingly’ asked “Give us a job”. Two days later, they asked if I was serious, as it obviously meant moving to Lincolnshire from Essex. Nine weeks later, I had left my old job, moved to Lincolnshire and begun a job I could only dream about.
Now my days are spent front-of-house, meeting and talking to visitors and family to the centre. It is an utter pleasure and joy to be able to follow my dream through. It still feels like a dream. I have met wonderful people, heard amazing stories and had opportunities that I could never done before.
The volunteers I have worked with, and who are a massive part of the centre are amazing. They are a family who love the same things as I do. They are informative, friendly, supportive and fun. Life is pretty good now, and all because of Richard Todd and the two Lancaster’s.
Start your romance with the people who suffered and served with Bomber Command and listen to their extraordinary experiences here, on our Digital Archive
Want to find out about becoming a volunteer? Click here