THE WALLS OF NAMES
The Walls of Names remember almost 58,000 men and women who lost their lives serving or supporting Bomber Command during World War II, and the IBCC is the only place in the world where every one of these individuals is commemorated by name. The names do not include ranks or awards, as every life lost in Bomber Command was equal in sacrifice, and many of those who died were ground support staff, or died during training, so did not get the opportunity to attain these.
The 23 walls surround the Memorial Spire in a series of concentric circles, framing the view of the City of Lincoln and its cathedral. There are 271 individual panels of names and each panel is formed from 4 mm-thick engraved sheets of Corten-A weathering steel.
Every life lost in Bomber Command was equal in sacrifice and, as a result, the walls do not recognise rank or medals awarded.
About the walls
- There are 23 walls
- They carry 271 panels of names
- There are about 3/4 million individual characters making up the names
- The names were cut using lasers
- The panels have been cut to allow for poppies to be placed alongside the names
- Each panel is numbered to help locate names
- The names represent the losses from over 45 nations
- The youngest is only 14
- The research behind the names took over 100 volunteers 4 years
- The welcome panel was created from Aluminium from a RCAF Halifax which crashed in 1944. It was donated to the project by the Bomber Command Museum, Nanton, Canada
- Phase 3 will cover the losses of pre- and post-war Bomber Command and those from other Bombing Commands based outside the UK