The IBCC Digital Archive. The Archive of the Bombing War 1939‐1945
Who: The IBCC Digital Archive is hosted at and managed by the University of Lincoln, within the framework of a partnership with the International Bomber Command Centre.
The archive is managed by permanent staff attached to the Centre for Culture and Creativity. Our work would not be possible without our team of volunteers who have donated thousands of hours to the various tasks of preservation and publication.
Why: The legacy of the bombing war in Europe during the Second World War is still controversial - the ethos of the Archive is to promote recognition, remembrance and reconciliation. In keeping with these values, the IBCC Digital Archive focuses on people’s stories of RAF Bomber Command and the bombing war in Europe (1939-1945), from multiple perspectives: on the ground and in the air, military and civilian, and on both sides of the conflict.
How: The Archive is shaped by a commitment to presenting history from below, a kind of historical narrative which attempts to account for wartime events from the perspective of common people rather than leaders, key figures, and highly decorated personnel.
It is important to emphasise that sources are published ‘as is’, rather than having been interpreted. This is an archive, not an encyclopaedia. It is also worth noting that this is a digital archive; the owners of original items lend these to us for digitising and they are then returned to them. Once digitised we have no access to the originals. If you have material that you are willing to share with us so that we can share it with others, please contact us.
What: More than 30,000 documents have been published so far. They include interviews with eyewitnesses, personal papers, and memorabilia belonging to more than 2,000 private collections worldwide. These shed light on the human dimension of people who were caught up in bombing war in Europe, in doing so revealing the unprecedented scale of loss and destruction. For the most part, they consist of previously unknown documents and materials never examined by historians. While we have digitised a vast amount of material, this is not a systematic archive. Collections are presented by owners who wish to contribute – they are not actively sought out. The result is that some units, places, and events are well represented while others are not covered at all; or again, coverage of the experiences of those on the ground is stronger for some parts of Europe than others.
When: The Archive went live in 2018.