British war veterans joined senior members of the Royal Air Force for a ceremony to lay the foundation stone of a monument to thousands of RAF bomber crew who lost their lives during World War II.

The Bomber Command Memorial in Green Park, central London, will pay tribute to the 55,573 RAF crew who lost their lives in the conflict and will be completed by May next year. Those present at the ceremony included leading donors and supporters such as Robin Gibb, of Bee Gees fame.

Some £5.6 million of a £6 million fundraising target for the memorial was achieved after donations from mobile phone entrepreneur John Caudwell and Lord Ashcroft, the former deputy chairman of the Conservative Party.The memorial, which will be built from Portland stone, has been designed by awarding-winning architect Liam O’Connor, and will feature a bronze centrepiece of seven aircrew by sculptor Philip Jackson.

Fundraisers also need to raise a further £2 million for maintenance of the memorial.

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