GLIDER CRASH VICTIMS REMEMBERED ON 80TH ANNIVERSARY
An 80th anniversary service has been held in memory of 23 men who died in a WWII glider crash.
On 17 September 1944, an RAF Airspeed Horsa glider broke apart in mid-air, minutes after taking off from RAF Keevil in Wiltshire and crashed near Paulton, North East Somerset.
Twenty-one Royal Engineers on their way to the Battle of Arnhem in the Netherlands were killed, along with two Glider Regiment pilots.
Hundreds of people, including members of the Royal Engineers, attended the memorial to honour the servicemen who died.
Peter Yeates, who has organised the event since the 1970s, has decided this will be the last year under his stewardship.
"This year was extra special. There are lots of memories now," he said.
The service is held annually, near a stone memorial to those who died.
Valerie Austin, whose father Sapper John Fernyhough was among the Royal Engineers killed, has been attending for the last 40 years.
"It's an honour for the boys and it means a lot to me and everyone else," she said.
In 2023, a photo of Valerie as a baby carried by her father when he died was discovered, it had originally been found in the wreckage of the glider.
The photo, with burnt edges, was presented to her at the 2023 memorial.
"Apparently this photograph had gone all the way to Canada, and it was found and brought back, and I've got it!" she told BBC West at this year's memorial.
This year's service was attended by local people, veterans and serving service personnel.
There are plans to refurbish the existing memorial next year.
Follow BBC Somerset on Facebook and X. Send your story ideas to us on email or via WhatsApp on 0800 313 4630.
More Somerset stories
2024-09-01T19:15:33Z dg43tfdfdgfd