Memorial Fallen 617 Squadron Dambusters

During World War II, Woodhall Spa's Golf Hotel and Petwood Hotel were requisitioned by the RAF, while Pinewoods, particularly its northern perimeter, served as a site for concealing military equipment.

The memorial was erected in 1987 on the site of the former Royal Hydro Hotel and Winter Gardens which were destroyed during the Blitz. It commemorates the 204 airmen of 617 Squadron who died during the Second World War. It is a large concrete structure shaped like a breached dam, with a central slate slab symbolizing flooding through the breach. The slate is engraved with the 617 Squadron crest and battle honors, while the flanking walls, representing the remaining dam, feature spillways with names inscribed on mounted slate tablets.

Inscription:

Wall, top: THEY DIED FOR / YOUR FREEDOM

Wall, left side: THIS MEMORIAL COMMEMORATES THE SACRIFICE OF/ 204 AIRCREW OF 617 'DAM BUSTER' SQUADRON RAF/ IN THE SECOND WORLD WAR 1939 - 1945/ ERECTED BY THEIR COMRADES AND DEDICATED/ ON THE 17TH MAY 1987

Tablet, central: THE DAMS 1943/ FORTRESS EUROPE 1943 - 1944/ NORMANDY 1944/ TIRPITZ 1944/ BISCAY PORTS 1944/ FRANCE AND GERMANY 1944 - 1945/ GERMAN PORTS 1945/ CHANNEL AND NORTH SEA 1944 - 1945/ 617 SQUADRON

Tablets: (Names)

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Source

• Text: TracesofWar
• Photos: Arjan Vrieze