Radio New Zealand - Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa

Memorial to Bomber Command unveiled

Updated at 11:44 pm on 28 June 2012

A memorial recognising the courage of the Second World War airmen who bombed Nazi infrastructure was be unveiled in London on Thursday.

Thirty-three Bomber Command veterans who live in New Zealand were at Green Park in London for the unveiling.

Some of the Bomber Command veterans who live in New Zealand, but were unable to attend the unveiling, gathered at the Whenuapai airforce base on Thursday to remember their many lost comrades.

Half the Bomber Command unit - of 55,000 men - were killed in the war, and of the 6000 New Zealanders who served in the unit, and more than 1800 died.

These sacrifices were remembered in London when the Queen unveiled the monument.

A Bomber Command veteran Harry Furner says the memorial is important because there was no opportunity for servicemen to deal with their grief at the time.

Mr Furner, who was a flight sergeant by the end of the war, says he and his son will visit the monument in London later this year.

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