‘We hear many stories of people who suffered on both sides, but there are not enough about the acts of kindness and reconciliation.' Photo: Courtesy of Ruth and Peter Allen-Williams.
‘As Quakers, you may wonder why we are involved in a place with strong links to the military.’
Can Friends bring peace into the remembrance of war? Ruth and Peter Allen-Williams do just that at the International Bomber Command Centre
In May 2015 Peter and I watched as a 102-foot steel spire appeared in a field at the end of our road near Lincoln. It was being erected as a memorial to the 58,000 named men and women who died during world war two while serving or supporting Royal Air Force Bomber Command, and also to the hundreds of thousands of innocent and unnamed civilians who suffered and died under the bombs dropped by participants in both sides of the conflict.
Three years later, an impressive visitor centre has been opened on the site, with three aims: remembrance, recognition and reconciliation. When people come to the centre they encounter a dramatic memorial spire, surrounded by curved steel walls, simply engraved with the surnames and initials of the dead. All this is set in ten acres of peace gardens.
The stories behind hundreds of real individuals are available in a huge digital archive, along with thousands of photos, log books and diaries. The true horror of what happened, and the appalling number of casualties, most of whom were in Germany, is shown in a powerful, even-handed exhibition, which moves and disturbs the visitor with its presentation of the misery and destruction that was caused by the bombing.
Peter and I have been volunteering at the International Bomber Command Centre (IBCC) since it opened to the public in January 2018. As peace-loving Quakers, you may be wondering why we are involved in a place which has very strong links to the military, and has many retired RAF people among the voluntary tour guides and other supporters. I started volunteering at the centre because I was attracted to the idea of helping with school visits after my years of experience as a primary school teacher. I developed a good relationship with the learning officer, Emily, who encouraged me to train as a tour guide. This gave me the opportunity to talk to the visitors, and especially to children, about the importance of the third aim of the IBCC: reconciliation. Together Emily and I improved some of the children’s activities and I talked to her about Quaker values and the potential for peace education in the school visits programme.
We are convinced that the message of peace and reconciliation, in preference to war and conflict, is one which people, the younger generation in particular, should be given the opportunity to hear and think about. The IBCC clearly shows the devastating effects of bombing and warfare. We hear many personal stories of people who suffered on both sides, but there are not enough stories about the acts of kindness and reconciliation which also occurred between people who were supposedly enemies. This is where the Reconciliation Gallery could fill a gap.
We are also strongly uplifted and encouraged by the approach to peace and reconciliation at the centre, led by its chief executive officer, Nicky van der Drift. She is the driving force behind the IBCC. Her enthusiasm for developing and strengthening the third aim of reconciliation is heartening. When I approached her with the idea of including white poppies and peace as a part of the Children’s Service of Remembrance held at the spire in November in 2018, her response was very positive. That event was attended by over 400 children, from twenty-five county primary schools, and at Nicky’s suggestion the staff and volunteers were invited to wear white poppies alongside their red ones. A box of white poppies was placed in the cafe area and offered free to anyone visiting the IBCC that week. Last year the centre had a box of free white poppies (donated by Lincolnshire Quakers) placed next to the box of red ones with a sign explaining their significance. Nearly 600 children attended the Schools Remembrance Service, some wearing white poppies.
In May 2019 Lincolnshire Quakers, together with a with a local artist, were invited to a special session of white poppy-making at the centre and we ‘planted’ our beautiful poppies in the International Peace Garden afterwards. They are now safe from wind and rain on display in a vase in the cafe.
A few days later, on 11 May 2019, a concern for work at the IBCC, brought from Brant Broughton Local Meeting, was adopted by Lincolnshire Area Meeting and limited financial support was authorised to begin Quaker involvement in improving the third gallery of the exhibition, which is the one concerned with reconciliation. We are working on a plan that we hope will secure some funding from Quaker charities and individuals. The IBCC is itself a charity relying only on grants and donations from the public and other charitable trusts. There is one notable exception to this: the Dutch government, which remembers and recognises RAF Bomber Command’s ‘Operation Manna’, which dropped food to people starving in the Netherlands in May 1945. As with many charities, the IBCC raises money in many ways, including making use of its striking building and poignant grounds for meetings and events.
As volunteers, we meet with many serving and retired RAF personnel. In our conversations with them we have found that most serving officers wish for peace just as fervently as any Friend, even if we may disagree on how to achieve it.
It is our hope that the IBCC will become an international beacon for peace and reconciliation, and that visitors of all ages will leave the centre thinking about alternative and nonviolent ways of behaving in their own lives. This is surely where hope lies for a more peaceful world.
