Story of RAF hero to lead tribute event
The story of a war hero will be told as a new memorial is unveiled in honour of those who dedicated their lives to the RAF.
The Clock Garden, on Seaham’s seafront, has been undergoing a revamp, with stones already laid in tribute to townsfolk who served in the Army, as well as its connection with the Durham Artillery Volunteer Corps, and the Royal Navy, with its stone also acknowledging the link with HMS Seaham.
The unveiling ceremony on Saturday will also mark 100 years since the RAF was launched, when the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Naval Air Service merged.
It will feature a reading about the late Reverend Les Hood, a teacher, miner and curate of St John’s Church, who was a flight sergeant in June 1944 when the Lancaster Bomber he was in was shot down over France.
He spent three months in hiding, with the help of locals and members of the French Resistance.
Rev Hood, who died in 2011 aged 87, spent another two years in service before he was demobbed.
He founded Seaham’s Air Cadets, with one of its members to be tasked with reading his story at the unveiling.
The revamp of the garden had been supported by Seaham Town Council and led by the Seaham Remember Fund, which has bought the stones with the help of donations and has previously worked on the Remembrance Day displays in front of the Tommy statue for the last two years.
Dave McKenna, who founded the fund and is also a town councillor, said: “If you look into what happened to Les, it’s really unbelievable what he went through.”
The ceremony at the garden, on the corner of North Terrace and North Railway Street, will begin at 10.30am.
It will also feature the RAF Association’s standards and will be attended by members of the RAF Reserve and Mayor of Seaham Sonia Forster.