A VILLAGE war memorial has been renovated for the first time in more than 30 years just in time for Remembrance Sunday.
A small group of Wasperton and Hampton Lucy residents spent ten months restoring the memorial built in Wasperton to commemorate the loss of two Commonwealth aircrews during the Second World War.
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The group, led by Kath Wright, renovated the memorial, which is made up of two propeller blades, and added a second plaque to include the names of the ten aircrew who died in the crashes in 1942 and 1943.
In August 1942, a Wellington bomber from Wellesbourne airfield crashed into the bank of the River Avon in Wasperton while on the way back from a night training exercise, killing all five of its Canadian crew. Then in July 1943, a Whitley bomber from Long Marston crashed into Scar Bank on the opposite side of the river in Hampton Lucy parish while on a night practice bombing mission. All five crew members were killed.
The Stratford Aviation and Militaria Enthusiasts had the River Avon dredged to find remains of the planes and erected the memorial on the banks of the Avon in Wasperton in the late 1970s.
Posted: Thursday, 5th November, 2009, 9.43am
