Westminster council have approved a permanent memorial to Bomber Command in Green Park. The £2.5 million monument, patriotically described by the Daily Mail as a "thank you" to the 55,573 crew killed in World War II, was green-lighted after being enthusiastically endorsed by the Prime Minister and his predecessor during the election campaign.
The 8.5m tall pavilion will be built from Portland stone, with an entranceway made from the melted aluminium of a shot-down Halifax bomber. It will be decorated with inscriptions from Winston Churchill; we're hoping they include the memorable retort he proffered to an apparatchik who accused him of being drunk, or even his quickfire quip to Lady Astor, but they'll probably favour the bold over the bawdy.
The location of the monument, on the Piccadilly entrance to the park, has upset local campaigners, who support the notion of a memorial but deplore the "loss of natural habitat" that will ensue, and favour a site on the Embankment.
