The owner of a Nottinghamshire wedding venue wants help in solving a 70-year-old mystery surrounding wartime graffiti in a clock tower.
Mrs Diane Ansell is keen to find out more about three names scrawled near the top of the 40ft tower at Stoke Hall, Church Lane, East Stoke.
Scratched into the roof is: RAF P Milmore 1943, Fitzwilliam 1944, and F Robson, 1944.
The graffiti was found by a workman, Mr David Jones, ahead of renovation that will restore the bell and turn the hall’s carriage court building into an entertainment venue for wedding ceremonies.
Mrs Ansell said: “We know the hall was used in some way by the air force during the war and we have found an old sandstone weight from a barrage balloon, so it is likely that the service personnel would have explored the grounds thoroughly.
“But just getting to the top of the clock tower is quite a climb.
“From the second storey they would have had to go up two flights of narrow and steep internal stairs before scrambling out on to the roof next to the clock and climbing up to the bell, where they scratched their names.
“I would love to know more about the people who went to such a great effort.”
Mr Mike Smith, curator at Newark Air Museum, believes that nearby RAF Syerston is key to the mystery.
Now a glider training centre, RAF Syerston was used in the second world war as a base for Lancaster bombers.
In 1943, it was home to about 2,900 airmen and women and, notably, Number 106 Squadron, which flew regular sorties over Germany and whose commanding officer, Wing Commander Guy Gibson, went on to lead the Dambusters Raid that year.
Gibson was killed on a raid in 1944, by which time RAF Syerston had become a training facility for bomber crews.
Mr Smith said: “It is quite possible that the RAF would have used Stoke Hall during the war. They took over lots of big houses as officers’ messes.
“However, a tall building like the clock tower would have had a hazard light on it to warn aircraft coming into land, and RAF electricians would have had to go up the tower to maintain it.
“It’s possible these men were doing just that and I would imagine they might have been tempted to leave their names while doing so, just to say they had been there.”
Stoke Hall was built in 1812. Mrs Ansell and her husband, Mr Bryan Ansell, have spent ten years renovating it.
It is their private home but earlier this year they opened it as a wedding venue.
Mr and Mrs Ansell founded Citadel Miniatures and helped to make Nottingham-based Games Workshop a household name.
Anyone with information on the graffiti can contact Stoke Hall on 07815 055459 or email dianeansell@stokehallweddings.com
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