Epitaphs of Bomber Command

“This is truly an exceptional compilation of profiles in courage and sacrifice. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in Bomber Command.” – Aviation Enthusiast Book Club

During the Second World War Royal Air Force Bomber Command suffered unprecedented casualty rates. Those who served, were killed, and were found, now rest in Commonwealth War Graves Commission graves across the length and breadth of the United Kingdom and the rest of Europe. Of these, almost 30,000 headstones bear emotive and poignant epitaphs, chosen by the next of kin, which, in varied ways, express their loss. Some families selected literary quotes or decided upon a phrase in Latin or other language. Many wished to reflect the sacrifice made in confronting the enemy, in defence of their country, or the sacrifice of a pilot who stayed at the controls of his aircraft to save his crew. Other families referenced siblings of the airmen, who were similarly lost. There were those who chose mild humour. Often the epitaph would mention the wife and children of the casualty, or the bereaved may have selected a phrase from the last letter they received from their loved one. Others found, in their hearts, their own words.

In Epitaphs of Bomber Command Steve Darlow and Dave Gilbert select one hundred epitaphs, providing further detail about the respective casualty, along with an insight into the words chosen for the inscriptions. Words that were restricted by a war graves commission limit on the number of letters.

This collection, published eighty years after the end of the Second World War and specific to RAF Bomber Command, provides a direct and sombre insight into the cost of war at a personal level. ‘We Will Remember Them’.

Steve Darlow is a Bomber Command historian and established military aviation author, with fourteen books to his name. Steve has made numerous radio and television appearances, and recently acted as program consultant on the BBC’s The Lancaster: Britain’s Flying Past and Channel 5’s War Hero in the Family (Robert Llewelyn). Steve is also an Ambassador of the Royal Air Force Benevolent Fund.

Dave Gilbert is the Losses Archivist at the International Bomber Command Centre (IBCC) in Lincoln, UK. He has held this voluntary position since the project’s inception in 2012 and has, with the help of a team of other volunteers, built the world’s largest free-to-access database of the short lives of the losses incurred by Bomber Command throughout its existence. He has also been a Trustee at IBCC for two years. An engineer by profession, Dave was born and raised in the heart of ‘Bomber County’, where he still lives. He regularly gives talks about Bomber Command and his annual, hands-on ‘Technology of the Air War’ lectures are a fusion of his passion for engineering and the RAF’s heavy bomber force.