Tuesday 31 January 2012

Event - Airmen killed in village crash are gone but not forgotten (Staunton)

The new interpretation board at the church in Staunton.
THE remarkable lives and tragic deaths of seven men killed in a Second World War plane crash are depicted through a new public information board.
The interpretation board has been installed yards from the memorial to the seven men who were killed when their Lancaster Bomber crashed into a field in Staunton.
The board also tells the tale of how each of the men were tracked down, as featured in last week’s Grantham Journal.
It all began when Annie Hogg’s grandfather, Sid Baggaley, found part of the wreckage of the plane.
Annie said: “I would love for him to be able to see it as he would have been so proud but it is nice for me, as his granddaughter, to be able to carry it on.”
http://www.granthamjournal.co.uk/webimage/1.3469220!image/396858807.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_215/396858807.jpg
The information board was paid for thanks to a grant from Nottinghamshire County Council’s Local Improvement Scheme.
Coun Richard Butler said: “Hopefully this will be here for many generations to come and future generations will be able to look back and remember what happened.”
Sunday, February 19, will see Snowdrop Sunday return to Staunton for the first time in four years. People will be invited along to Staunton Hall where to see the memorial, an exhibition on “The Last Crew of the Lancaster W4270” and much more.
Annie said: “Our whole research team will be there so people will be able to talk to everyone involved in the project about how we did it.”
Next year will be the 70th anniversary of the crash and Annie is hoping an event can be organised to mark the occasion.
She said: “Hopefully we might be able to get all of the relatives of the men together next year. I would love to do that.”
l Admission for Snowdrop Sunday is £3.50 with children under 12 entering for free. Parking is free and all proceeds will go towards helping repair the church tower. The event will run from 11am until 4pm.

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