'A Memory Owed', a magnificent short film about RAF bomber crews

This year marked the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, a terrible war in which many heroes fought.

The Royal Air Force (RAF) still has World War II fighter planes in service
The 303 Squadron of the RAF: the Polish airmen who defended the United Kingdom

Despite the passage of time, some veterans of that terrible war are still alive. So are some of their loved ones. They are like small candles that keep the memory of those heroes alive, at a time when too many people have forgotten the great sacrifice that many of them made, often giving their lives in defense of their country and the cause of Freedom.

Ten days ago, an excellent short film was released on YouTube, commemorating some of those heroes: the bomber crews of the British Royal Air Force (RAF). They were young men who fought on a front line of fire and darkness, at great heights. 125,000 men served in the RAF Bomber Command. 55,573 of them never returned. Each of those fallen is not just a number; they represent a family shattered by the pain of their loss.

Martin Hemingway-Moseley is the director and screenwriter of this excellent short film titled "A Memory Owed," which serves to remind us of the debt we owe to those heroes. A debt we have a moral duty to assume, preventing their sacrifice from falling into oblivion:

The bomber seen in the video is the Avro Lancaster NX611 "Just Jane," at the Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre, located at the former RAF East Kirkby base. 7,377 of these bombers were built, but only 17 remain intact today, of which only two are airworthy. The NX611 "Just Jane" is undergoing restoration to become the third airworthy Avro Lancaster, a powerful testament to an era of heroes.

The monument we see at the end of the video is the RAF Bomber Command Memorial, located in Green Park, London. It was unveiled on June 28, 2012, by Queen Elizabeth II. The monument includes this inscription: "This memorial is dedicated to the 55,573 airmen from the United Kingdom, British Commonwealth & Allied Nations who served in RAF Bomber Command & lost their lives over the course of the Second World War.".

In the image, we can see that at the foot of the monument, among the flowers, is the checkered insignia of the Polish Air Force. Of the 19,400 Polish airmen who served in the RAF in World War II, more than 8,000 served in Bomber Command. More than 1,200 of them died in combat.