GGR installs cliffside memorial

UK-based GGR Group supplied a Unic URW-547 mini spider crane to assist in the installation of a new stone memorial at Beachy Head, Eastbourne, to commemorate the 55,573 men who lost their lives as part of Bomber Command during World War II.

The four-tonne capacity crane, with the six-tonne stone memorial, were flown to the location on Beachy Head by a RAF Chinook helicopter. The Unic crane then positioned the 2,740 kg base stone at the edge of the 140 metre cliff before then lifting the 2,780 kg cap stone, which is inscribed with the message "Remember Them", on top of it so the pieces fitted together.

The memorial was the dream of World War II veteran 90-year-old Joe Williams, who completed 20 missions as a Lancaster Bomber rear gunner before being shot down over Czechoslovakia in 1945. He spent years fundraising and campaigning for the memorial.

Beachy Head was chosen as the location for the memorial as it was often the last part of British soil seen by RAF crews flying out to German-occupied Europe.