1984 Skipton-on-Swale Reunion

RAF Band at Parade

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Photo supplied by John Beisly, note the Memorial Cairn at the mid right of image

Flight Sergeant John Beisly of the Art Heathcote Crew, 433 Squadron, writes about witnessing the crash and the Squadron Reunion where a committee planned a memorial to be erected where the Halifax had crashed. This image shows the Memorial dedication ceremony in 1984 at Skipton-on-Swale. For other stories about the crash, see the Stan Bodaly DFC story, and the images from the Bodaly family visit to Skipton-on-Swale, where they met the land owner Mr Sanderson who farms the land where the crash occurred. Mr Sanderson, a 16 year old at the time of the crash, later created his own memorial on a brick wall.

To see the memorial plaque, please click here. On the page about the memorial plaque, one can see information about the crew Flying Officer James Robert Harrison, Sergeant Lawson Whitbread, and Civilian Kenneth Battensby, and reference their Last Posts.