Villagers salute brave 7 killed in bomber crash
The grateful daughter of one of the young victims will be among VIP guests on Sunday (31 August) as the 2.5-metre metal sculpture is unveiled in a Stanton-by-Dale field.
Mary Main was a little girl aged seven at the time of the 1944 disaster. She will be joined at the age of 89 by the Mayor of Erewash as a decade-long fundraising campaign finally comes to fruition.
The mighty Stirling bomber was returning from a training flight when it ran into a ferocious thunderstorm over the sleepy village. It managed to clear a ridge with one of its four engines ablaze – before exploding in a fireball.
Horrified villagers were woken at 11pm and rushed to find trees in flames and scattered wreckage. They were joined by men from the nearby Stanton Ironworks – but it was a scene of devastation. One of the bomber’s wheels was discovered hundreds of yards away.
The memorial will be unveiled exactly 81 years since the disaster on August 31 1944. Mary will be making her way from her home on Tyneside 160 miles away for what she described as “like going to my father’s funeral”. She said of James Lambell, who was an RAF sergeant: “My dad was everything to me. He was such a kind man. I can't remember his face but he loved birds and I loved birds, he played the piano and I love music, he gave me music."
The poignant memorial – designed by artist Malcolm Sier and made by a firm in the village called FC Laser – is made from 28mm Corten steel, which rusts but does not decay. It features seven stars shaped to look like aircraft. These represent the men who died. Beneath are the Latin words Per Ardua ad Astra – the RAF’s motto which means Through Adversity to the Stars.
The sculpture bears the name of Mary’s father plus the other crew who died aboard flight LJ630, which had been heading back to RAF Wigsley in Nottinghamshire. The dad’s comrades were Pilot Officer BG Wilkinson, Flt Sgt P Arthur, Flt Sgt W Cox, Sgt A Hughes, Sgt T Westhead and Sgt R Alexander.
The memorial in a field next to Grove Farm will be dedicated by the rector of Stanton-by-Dale Rev Phil Selby at 1.30pm. Diversions will be in place as Dale Road is closed between 11.30am and 3.30pm.
Earlier the Mayor of Erewash Cllr Harry Atkinson will be attending a 10am service in memory of the bomber crew. It is held annually in the village churchyard. A plaque saluting the airmen is on the war memorial there.
Rev Selby said: “Fundraising for the new memorial sculpture was already under way when I came to the village – and it has been a privilege to be involved with the project. There has been a band of committed people dedicated to honouring the memory of the airmen who were killed.”
Villager Paul Harvey, who helped to spearhead the fundraising drive, estimated the cost of the memorial at up to £9,000. The sculpture is being unveiled following nationwide celebrations marking 80 years since the end of World War Two.
Paul said: “We still need to find more than £1,000 to pay for this fitting memorial but were determined to unveil it on this year’s anniversary of the crash.”
Pictured: The new memorial to the seven who died in bomber crash. Credit Jacqui Overton-Sewell.
A Stirling bomber like the one that crashed