Article - Oldest RAF veteran meets memorial campaigners (Halam)

A 99 year old RAF veteran has given his seal of approval to a memorial erected to seven airmen killed in a plane crash in Nottinghamshire during World War Two.


The crew of a Lancaster bomber died in 1943 when their plane crashed in the village of Halam near Southwell. Last year a granite memorial was unveiled in their honour after two locals - Andrew Paris and Tony Denyer - campaigned for the crash site to be recognised. Relatives of the crew from Australia, Canada and the UK were present at the blessing.

Jim Flint is the oldest and most decorated surviving RAF war veteran and Bomber Command pilot. He flew 56 missions and became a Commanding Officer. During his career he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO), the Distinguished Service Cross (DSC), the George Medal and the Aircraft Efficiency Medal (AE). Jim received the George Medal for bravery after his plane ditched in the sea off the coast of Norfolk. His navigator was trapped and Jim swam back to rescue him.

Today he spoke about the need to remember the war dead.“"There was many a mission I flew that I honestly didn't know if I would return home from. I lost so many dear friends during the Second World War and to have colleagues recognised with these special memorials is marvellous."

The memorial at Halam is one of a number of RAF crash sites that have been recognised by Nottinghamshire County Council through their Local Improvement Scheme. Over the last eight years the Council has spent around £500,000 to fund the restoration and creation of more than 35 war memorials across Nottinghamshire, including the village of Staunton near Newark, and Milton near Retford.

From: http://www.itv.com/news/central/2012-09-25/oldest-raf-veteran-meets-memorial-campaigners/

News - Memorial honours lost airmen (RAAF Pilots Halam)

A MEMORIAL in England will honour the lives of two Australian airmen who died in World War II, although the true cause of their deaths might be forever ''lost in the web of war''.

Leonard Lean, 22, of Lindfield, died after his Lancaster bomber crashed on April 10, 1943. It was his last night-training flight before being assigned to a squadron. His crew mate, flight engineer Frank Dunkin, 21, from Armidale, was also killed.

Reports about the crash have cited pilot error as the cause but their families are convinced there is another explanation.

Relatives have travelled to Halam in Nottinghamshire where a memorial to the crew of seven will be dedicated today.

Last year, after a notice was placed in The Sydney Morning Herald seeking Lean's relatives, his niece Barbara Butchart and sister Elaine Caldwell examined 58 letters that had remained untouched in Ms Butchart's mother's garage for years.

''There was a bundle in my mother's garage covered in cobwebs and slaters. Once we heard about the memorial, Elaine started looking at the letters and going into things.

''They were in their original envelopes and hadn't been opened very often. It was just too painful.''

One letter, written by the wife of the navigator to Lean's mother Elsie, said the crew was ''only just airborne when it happened. The engine was overheating when they took off and blew up just as they left the ground but owing to your boy's quick thought they were not burned. He managed to stop the fire by turning his engines off.''

Less than two weeks before the crash, Lean wrote home: ''Well folks, I have mastered the four-engined kites and am as pleased as punch. They are what I have been working for. The bigger, the better. I shall have to wait until a bigger one is invented as these are 'tops' at the moment. The crew are all good types and work well together.''

Andrew Paris, who had the idea for the memorial, said: ''I just felt that this piece of village history shouldn't be forgotten, and that the sad sacrifice of seven airmen should not go unmarked.

''The official report of the accident is very brief and dismissive. It is easier perhaps just to imply pilot error than to go through proper forensics to establish what really happened. Time, money and resources were scarce; there was a war on. 'Write off the crash, write to the bereaved families, and get on training the next crew' may have been the attitude.''

 

From: http://www.smh.com.au/national/memorial-honours-lost-airmen-20110409-1d8ff.html