Sponsored by
RAF tribute to lost bomber training crew
Date: 29/01/2013 Image shows: A remembrance service is held at East Kirkby aviation museum under the spectacle of Avro Lancaster Bomber "Just Jane" to commemorate the site of an Royal Air Force (RAF) Lancaster Bomber ED503 and the loss of the 6 crew members from No.9 Squadron. The Bomber which crashed into the Lincolnshire Fens at Sibsey Northlands, was on it's way to France to bomb the U-Boat pens at Lorient. It was diverted due to bad weather over the target and came down a short time later. All, but one crew member remain buried where the crash took place, the rear gunner Sergeant (Sgt) Thomas Wishart RAF (VR) was pulled from the burning wreckage and is buried in Scotland. The other crew members were: Flight Lieutenant (Flt Lt) Robert Frood Lind RAF (VR) - Pilot Pilot Officer Charles W H Cocks RAF (VR) - Air Gunner Sgt Donald A. Brown RAF (VR) - Wireless Operator Sgt John Doran RAF (VR) Sgt Thomas Henry RAF (VR) Bomb Aimer After the war, in 1947, the families of the crew paid for a memorial to be placed on
RAF Personnel joined local dignitaries, veterans, and public in a service marking the anniversary of the loss of Lancaster ED503.
The service at East Kirkby airfield marked the 70th anniversary of the day the RAF Lancaster crew perished in the county.
The aircraft was on a training operation when it crashed at Sibsey.
Group Captain Al Gillespie, Station Commander at RAF Waddington, the home base for the Lancaster crew, represented his station at the service.
The Reverend (Wing Commander) Mike Elliott from RAF Coningsby also took part in the proceedings.
Officer Commanding Personal Management Squadron, Squadron Leader Darren Godwin and Officer Commanding RAF Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, Squadron Leader Duncan Mason, represented RAF Coningsby.
Sqn Ldr Mason read the poem ‘High Flight’ during the service. Afterwards, he said: “I was delight to represent RAF Coningsby at this event.
“For me, as a pilot, and particularly as OC of the RAF BBMF; where our daily task is one of remembrance, the reading of ‘High Flight’ was particularly poignant.”
The service was held in the shadow of Lancaster ‘Just Jane’ with the kind permission of Fred and Harold Panton.
Reverend Rosemary Taylor conducted the service, and Fred Hunt, gave a thought provoking account of the fateful night 70 years ago when he witnessed the crash.
Family members present at the service were John Cocks, son of Pilot Officer Cocks who was killed in the crash, he was accompanied by his wife and their son Andrew.
Each year there is a Remembrance Service on the first Sunday in October at the site of the memorial - this year it will take place on October 6 at 2.30pm.
The Panton brothers, who have been responsible for restoring the Lancaster under which the service was held, were given a vote of thanks by Mr Hunt. There were 13 standards representing the Royal British Legion, Parish and Town Councils and RAFA.
The ‘Last Post’ and ‘Reveille’ were played by Baz Starbuck from Boston, and the haunting sounds of the ‘Piper’s Lament’ were played by Pipe Sergeant Keith Arnott from RAF Waddington.
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Horncastle
Wednesday 22 May 2013
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: 4 C to 15 C
Wind Speed: 24 mph
Wind direction: North west
Tomorrow
Light showers
Temperature: 4 C to 10 C
Wind Speed: 20 mph
Wind direction: North west
