"A gravestone for Dambusters hero Guy Gibson's pet dog 'N****r' has been removed and replaced with one without his name – sparking fury among veterans. The stone tablet, which is based at RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire, honoured Gibson's black Labrador, which was run over by a car and killed just hours before his Wing Commander owner led the famous World War Two raid. But RAF top brass have now paid for a new memorial, replacing where his name was with an outline of the famous canine and the words 'The Dog'. It came after the service carried out a 'review of its historical assets' and decided the term – which is an offensive slur against people of colour – had to go. Until now it had remained untouched at RAF Scampton - the World War Two base of 617 'Dambusters' Squadron – for years in the dog's honour. The switch was only revealed when headstone firm Draper Memorials posted an image of the new tablet online. Royal Air Force veteran Mark Dewberry told the company he was disgusted about the monument being changed. He said: 'You have questions to answer about replacing N****r's memorial stone. 'You have upset thousands of veterans, like myself. 'Are you going to delete this post and start to disrespect your countries veterans. You all should be ashamed of yourselves.' Despite having been paid for the work, Drapers' originally comment next to their now-deleted post seemed to hint at their own disquiet over the change. It said: 'This morning we have been out to replace the plaque to Guy Gibson's black Labrador at Raf Scampton. You can't rewrite history'." www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8530111/Gravestone-Dambuster-heros-beloved-black-Labrador-N-REPLACED-RAF-review.html
Modern sensitivities old chap. However, it is worth thinking about what this says about Guy Gibson. Around 15,000 volunteers from the West Indies travelled to the UK to support the war effort. Many men and women served in the RAF, including as aircrew such as Dudley Thompson, a black Flight Lieutenant. (Apparently when he completed a recruitment form, he ticked the box to say both his parents were of European descent, so they sent him to Cranwell) Dudley Thompson - Wikipedia Caribbean aircrew in the RAF during WW2 » 2008 » October What does this say about Gibson's leadership and judgement? Calling your dog N*gg*r on a base where black servicemen and women are stationed was insulting and racist thing in 1943. Perhaps the RAF are right. They need to think about future recruits. Maybe it is time we stopped drawing attention this reminder of Gibson's personality and leadership style. Do we want future generations to remember him as a gallant combat leader or a bullying, racist who thought it a joke to insult his comrades?
