Crew members, after gaining enough experience. The memorial at Newark Air Museum highlights the “Station of Nations” term that has come to describe RAF Balderton in Nottinghamshire. The crew consists of a Pilot, Flight engineer, Navigator, Radio and Radar Operator, Bombardier, and Two Gunners. Sometimes the names were accompanied by artwork such as that of the Grim. The aircraft crashed at Breeder Hills near Grantham, Lincs on 4 December 1944 carrying a crew of nine, and there were no survivors.ĭuring World War Two, Balderton was a wartime RAF station which hosted among others No.408 (Goose) Squadron RCAF, the USAAF 437 th and 439 th Transport Carrier Groups that participated in Operation Overlord (D-Day) and Operation Market Garden (Arnhem), the Rolls-Royce jet engine trials unit, and No.227 Squadron RAF. Often, their crews gave them nicknames which were painted just below the cockpit. The RAF Winthorpe / 1661 Heavy Conversion Unit (HCU) memorial that was unveiled on 24th September 2000 features part of a propeller hub of a Stirling EF186, from 1661 HCU, which was then based at RAF Winthorpe. Over the years Newark Air Museum has dedicated several memorials to reflect RAF Winthorpe’s role as a training base. More than forty airmen of many different nationalities who flew from, or to the nearby RAF Syerston just across the River Trent are commemorated these include British, Polish and Commonwealth personnel. Three other crashes are commemorated on a stone plaque in front of the seat. The main part of this memorial is a stone seat, which is a scale replica of a Lancaster tail section the crew names and aircraft / squadron details of four crashes are inscribed on in the inner and outer surfaces of the ‘vertical tail fins’. Research into the crash has brought to light a lot of new information, including the fact that the crew trained with 1661 HCU at RAF Winthorpe. However the Canadian pilot “Herb” Warne is buried in Newark Cemetery (No 307 Section P). Of these, 32 were officially non-British units: 15 RCAF squadrons, eight RAAF squadrons, four Polish squadrons, two French squadrons, two RNZAF/'New Zealand' squadrons, 1 and one Czechoslovakian squadron. All of the crew were killed in the crash and most were returned for burial in their home towns. The aircraft was operating from RAF Syerston and was returning there when it got into difficulties. This memorial commemorates the crew of 61 Squadron Lancaster W4270 that crashed 1 mile north west of St Mary’s Church on 18 February 1943. Like so many others, the aircraft’s crew comprised of an Australian, a Canadian and British airmen who had trained at RAF Winthorpe with 1661 Heavy Conversion Unit (HCU), and with 5 Lancaster Finishing School (LFS) at RAF Syerston - before flying on operations with 619 Squadron, which is often referred to as “The Forgotten Squadron”. Memorials and displays at Newark Air Museum proudly commemorate the crew of a 619 Squadron Lancaster, ME846 that was shot down over northern Belgium on 22 nd June 1944. Many of these people had travelled from around the world to air bases in Nottinghamshire, to train and serve as World War II bomber crews. Nottinghamshire is home to more than 20 memorials, dedicated to the brave men and women who lost their lives for their country.
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