Brave air crew honoured 70 years on
Fred, now 80, said: “I remember saying to my brother Harold what a shame it was that there would soon be nothing left of what those lads did in the war.”
They missed out at auction when the plane failed to reach its reserve price but 11 years later in 1983 they finally got their hands on bomber “Just Jane”.
It last flew in 1971 but having been restored to almost pristine condition the plane had a starring role in the 2011 Doctor Who Christmas Special, with Alexander Armstrong as the pilot.
Fred, of East Kirkby, Lincs, and his brother Harold, 78, use it to give rides along the runway to visitors at their Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre.
They have just taken delivery of a fourth Rolls- Royce Merlin engine, which they say will now enable them to take to the air. Fred said: “We are hoping she will fly one day soon but before we start we want to get everything in airworthy condition.
“If we were to take the engines out of Just Jane and send them away to be repaired it could take up to three years. The new engines will save time.” Of the 7,377 Lancasters built in the 1940s only two are still airworthy.
One belongs to the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight at Coningsby in Lincolnshire while the other is at the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum near Ontario.
Just Jane was built at the Longbridge car factory in Birmingham in April 1945.
It was due to join the RAF in the Far East but was put in storage after Japan surrendered and later bought by the French government for air- sea rescue work. THE brave crew of an RAF Lancaster are to be honoured 70 years to the day after they were shot down.
A memorial will be unveiled to the Second World War heroes in March near the crash site in Denmark.
The men’s burning Lancaster came down in the sea off Fredericia, in Jutland, during a mine- laying mission on the night of March 10, 1943.
They had been attacked by both a German fighter plane and a warship.
In 1981 a fisherman found some of the wreckage, helping to establish where the plane was lost. Now the Danish Defence Brotherhood, the equivalent of the Royal British Legion, is paying for a 6ft stone memorial with the crew’s names inscribed on it.
They include Flt Sgt Charles Brown, from Irchester, Northants, whose niece Eileen Andrew, now 79, said: “Charles was only 22 when he died. I was only a little girl but I remember him.
“I liked him a lot. He was very friendly and used to tease me.
“I am his only living relative and it will be nice to see his memorial. It will bring back memories and be very moving.”
Peer Petersen, 67, of the Danish Defence Brotherhood, said: “These seven men died for Den- mark’s freedom. This is our way of saying thank you.” The other crewmen, from No 44 ( Rhodesia) Squadron, were Sgt Brian Campbell Smith, 21, Sgt Gordon Black, 24, Flying Officer Robert Carr, 22, Sgt Charles Cook, 26, Sgt Geoffrey Love, 22, and Sgt Alfred Healey, 24.
Henry Horscroft, the squadron’s association secretary, said: “It is wonderful and rather humbling that the Danish people are still acknowledging the sacrifices made 70 years ago by our young men.
“We would like to trace relatives or former friends of the crew about the dedication ceremony.” If you can help, email Mr Horscroft via sqnassn44@ btinternet. com