Members of the public have been allowed to get up close to a new sculpture of a Lancaster Bomber for the first time this week.
“On Freedom’s Wings” sits next to the A46 between Newark and Lincoln, on the Lincolnshire county border with Nottinghamshire.
During World War Two, Lancaster bombers filled the skies of Lincolnshire as they completed missions across Europe and further afield, with the area quickly becoming known as “Bomber County”.
Over the last few years, GB News has followed the Bomber County Gateway Trust and its mission to immortalise this iconic plane for centuries to come.
The project officially began eight years ago, with the completed sculpture finally lifted into place in September last year.
GB News viewers helped raise thousands of pounds for the project, which was led by the trust's chairman, Charlie White.
Describing the feeling of letting the public see the sculpture up close for the first time, he said: “I'm really, really pleased; it's been one of these things that we’ve been working on for the past eight years.
“To finally get it up and have a dedication for it is so special.”
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He added: "The idea, when we decided we’d put it up here, was that people could drive down the side of the A46 and see it, and just make them smile, as a ‘Welcome home to Lincolnshire’ or ‘Welcome back into Nottinghamshire’.
“We think it's an over £1,000,000 project, with over half raised from public donations and sponsorship.
“People have come along and wanted to help. They have some connection with the military or the RAF, and they just wanted to be part of it.”
Standing taller than the Angel of the North, the completed sculpture weighs more than 100 tonnes, with steel beams holding it in a bank turn, both supportive of the weight and designed to look like searchlights.
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The sculpture is based on the Lancaster VN-N, which crashed on its return to RAF Swinderby in September 1942 after both port-side engines failed.
Rae Morley is the daughter-in-law of VN-N’s pilot, Sergeant Edward Morley, and travelled from North Queensland, Australia, for the ceremony this week.
She told GB News: “It's emotional and it's inspiring.
“But I think, looking past those people of VN-N, the men that flew the plane, I think we've got to look at everyone that was in bomber command.
“It's just amazing what they have managed to do.”
This site will officially open for visitors later in the summer, with tens of thousands of people expected to travel and see the Lancaster up close.
From wartime songs to stories of the build, the dedication service reflected on what the structure means.
An ambassador of the project said: “Most importantly, this project stands as proof, of what a small, determined group of people can achieve. No vast funding, no ground machinery behind it, just commitment, community, and a shared sense of purpose.”
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