On the evening of August 31st 1944 Stirling bomber LJ630 took off from RAF Wigsey near Newark Nottinghamshire. The aircraft was piloted by sergent Bill Cox, a veteran of numerous raids over Germany and occupied Europe who, to use a well known phrase of the time, had more than 'done his bit'. In contrast to the seasoned aviator, accompanying him that night was a raw training crew making their first cross-country navigation flight together.
Some 25 minutes after take off the aircraft encountered a thunderstorm that local residents described as the worst in living memory. Minutes later and close to the Nottinghamshire Derbyshire border the huge aircraft was seen loosing height with a starboard engine on fire. At 11 pm it crashed in a long narrow field close to the Derbyshire village of Stanton-by-Dale and exploded with a huge flash killing all of the crew instantly.
My name is Paul Harvey and along with fellow residents Chris Cotes, Steve Bridgewater, Aaron Webster and the backing of the Stanton parish council, we are trying to right a wrong that has remained unaddressed for seventy four years. The anomaly is that there is still no on site memorial to the crew who made the ultimate sacrifice for the freedoms we now take for granted. Today even local people pass this pleasant but otherwise unremarkable field without appreciating its significance and the way that on a summer night in 1944, the full horror of war touched this small English village.
As the years roll by how any more will pass before those eight brave young men are completely forgotten? Over the years their relatives, comrades and fellow service personnel have all tried in vain to raise enough funds to mark the place where they made the ultimate sacrifice - for us and their country.
Our small group have now taken up the challenge on their behalf to raise £5,500 to erect the memorial that Bill Cox and his crew so richly deserve.
Without your help we cannot do this so will you please 'do your bit' for the crew of LJ630 by making even the smallest donation towards this long overdue memorial. The famous poem speaks of a corner of some foreign field that is forever England. This appeal is about marking the corner of an English field that is forever theirs, and reminding future generations that for our tomorrows they gave their today.
Please make your donation NOW!
