Record Details

NHER Number:33637
Type of record:Monument
Name:Second World War crash site

Summary

A Lancaster bomber crashed at this site in March 1945, with the loss of all seven crew. A large earthwork crater marks the site of the crash, and a permanent memorial has been erected on the site.

Images - none

Location

Grid Reference:TL 797 924
Map Sheet:TL79SE
Parish:MUNDFORD, BRECKLAND, NORFOLK

Full description

Aircraft crash site.
Grid reference provided by Norfolk and Suffolk Aviation Museum but given as 'Lower Windmill Covert' which is some way to the north.
22 March 1945. Lancaster HK773 from Mildenhall; the last wartime loss from Mildenhall and from 15 Squadron.
Large crater marks site with 500m radius scatter of fragments, including bombs and wing fragments. Material retrieved April 1998; bombs destroyed, other large fragments in Flixton Museum.
See (S1) to (S3) in file.
E. Rose (NAU) 12 June 1998.

October 2019. Correspondence.
Volunteers have been caring for this site since erection of the memorial and plans are in place to mount the original plaque on a new granite mount next year, on the 75th anniversary of the loss.
See the War Memorials Website entry (S4) for an image of the memorial and further details regarding the crash.
H. Hamilton (HES), 11 October 2019.

January 2020. Breckland National Mapping Programme.
The Second World War crash site described above was not identified on the consulted sources. The locational information for the site, however, is conflicting; if this were resolved, it might be possible to identify a corresponding crater on the aerial sources [1].
S. Tremlett (Norfolk Historic Environment Service), 27th January 2020.

Monument Types

  • AIRCRAFT CRASH SITE (World War Two - 1939 AD to 1945 AD)

Associated Finds - none

Protected Status - none

Sources and further reading

---Secondary File: Secondary File.
<S1>Newspaper Article: Eastern Daily Press. 1999. Take-off to tragedy. 17 May.
<S2>Newspaper Article: Eastern Daily Press. 1998. Return to the Lancaster grave. 24 April.
<S3>Correspondence: Collis, R.J.. 1998. Letter. 30 May.
<S4>Website: War Memorials Trust. 2014 - 2020. War Memorials Online. https://www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk. 17 October 2019. Reference WMO193683.
<S4>Website: Imperial War Museums. ?-2020. War Memorials Register. https://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials. 2020.

Related records - none

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