The D-Day Museum in Portsmouth and the International Bomber Command Centre in Lincolnshire have been awarded grants of £3.8million and £3m respectively. Thanks to National Lottery players the investments will secure the future of the collections, both of which are of international importance.

The two projects being supported are:

Transforming the D-Day Museum

The funding will enable the D-Day Museum to become internationally recognised as a leader in telling the story of D-Day in the 21st century. It is Britain’s only museum dedicated to interpreting and commemorating the pivotal event of the Normandy landings in June 1944, which marked the launch of the Allied invasion of north-west Europe.

It holds a large collection including the only two remaining specially adapted Beach Armoured Recovery Vehicles used in the landings and the Dickin Medal awarded to Gustav the pigeon, who brought news of the landings back to the UK.

The museum also holds artefacts such as reconnaissance photographs, maps and military and naval plans, while personal accounts are captured in oral histories, diaries and photographs from those involved in the landings and on the home front.

The museum will reopen in late 2017 in good time for D-Day 75 commemorations in June 2019.

Find out more on the D-Day Museum website.

Telling the story of Bomber Command

The Lincolnshire Bomber Command Memorial Trust (LBCM), in partnership with the University of Lincoln, has been awarded funding to preserve the history of the bomber offensive during the war and the people who were affected by it.

This new Lincoln-based Interpretation Centre and Memorial will be an educational hub for the Bomber Command story which, until now, has never been fully told.

The project will also create an archive that digitises and preserves thousands of personal stories and documents, including the recollections of some of the few remaining survivors of the campaigns. Much of this information has never before been available for public view.

Once open the Centre will have a dedicated education team with schools, colleges and lifelong learning groups visiting the centre. The Centre will also run outreach programmes including the creation of specialist schools’ packs and an educational online portal.

Find out more on the International Bomber Command Centre website.