War hero’s mission for RAF memorial
AS of the RAF Bomber Command Association, Doug Radcliffe made it his life’s work to ensure that the sacrifice made by 55,573 of his fallen comrades should never be forgotten.
Even in his early 90s he was still giving educational tours about the role of Bomber Command in the Second World War three times a week at the Royal Air Force museum. And it was his idea to fund a permanent memorial to the men who gave their lives for their country. That tribute finally became a reality in 2012 when the Queen unveiled the £8million Portland stone monument in central London’s Green Park.
It was a cause close to the hearts of Daily Express readers who donated £1million to the fund, in addition to the £500,000 given by Daily Express owner Richard Desmond. For Mr Radcliffe, who was awarded an MBE for his services to the Bomber Command Association, seeing the memorial built was a dream come true.
Speaking shortly before the unveiling the veteran, who flew many missions as a wireless operator, said: “When the memorial is revealed I will think of the pilot and the rear gunner of my first crew who are both buried in Germany. They were among thousands of young men who died. There has been nothing to salute them.”
Douglas Radcliffe, who lived in London his entire life, first joined the RAF a month before his 18th birthday. Prior to this he had been a messenger boy at the BBC but when Broadcasting House was bombed during the Blitz in October 1940 and Radcliffe saw seven bodies being brought out of the music library he decided to join up.
After being trained as a wireless operator and put on a gunnery course, Radcliffe was sent to North Africa in 1943 to replenish depleted squadrons there.
On the way their plane crashed and he sustained shoulder and back injuries which resulted in a lengthy hospital stay and ultimately saved his life. By the war’s end the crew’s pilot and rear gunner had both been shot down and killed.
Following the end of the war he worked as a cine-technician for several British film studios.
He became secretary of the Bomber Command Association in 1985, a role he continued to fulfil until earlier this year when he was made president. He is survived by a son and daughter.