Why object to this tribute?

Published: 7 January, 2011

• IF the Nazis had triumphed, the subject of the Bomber Command Memorial on the edge of Green Park would be academic as we would have surely already seen a monument (or three!) in prominent central London positions celebrating the success of the Luftwaffe.

No objections countenanced on pain of death or transport­ation to a distant labour camp.

Green Park covers 47 acres and can accommodate the intended design without much loss of habitat in what was once a lepers’ burial ground before it was reclaimed by the Crown centuries ago.  

It offers an accessible central London venue that shows the proper respect to the deeds and sacrifices of many of those who made the freedom of our existence possible today.

As a Royal Park the public have grace-and-favour access except where public rights of way exist. 

So why are the objections to this overdue tribute so strident? I’m sure the emotions they accuse others of indulging are just as prevalent in the objectors’ breasts but they prefer to hide their resentment in high-minded proclamations about the loss of or damage to “the environment”.

I get angry when memorials to just causes are put in places people hardly ever see or notice, as if they were an embarrassment.  

Let people see and take notice of the long overdue memorial to the boys of Bomber Command in the very heart of our capital city.

Bring it on!

MARK NEWBERRY
Harcourt Street, W1