Families remember WW2 bomber crash victims

A commemorative service was held on Cleeve Hill

A service has been held to remember the victims of a Second World War airplane crash that killed seven airmen 80 years ago.

A Halifax bomber, the MZ311, crashed on Cleeve Common near Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, on 26 August 1944.

It had been returning from a raid along the French coast and was believed to have been flying at low altitude upon impact.

Maureen Sullivan, 79, from Arizona in the US, flew over for the service, which honoured her father who she never met, and said it gave her "the other half of myself that I never had".

Maureen Sullivan never met her father RCAF Flight Lieutenant Charles Howes, who died aged 22

Mrs Sullivan said the trip over from the US had given her a great sense of belonging to Gloucestershire.

Her father was Royal Canadian Airforce (RCAF) Flight Lieutenant Charles Howes, who died aged 22.

She said: "My mother was four months pregnant with me when my father died. I never met him.

"It gives me a real feeling of being part of my father and I didn't ever had that."

She said she met several long-lost family members in her trip over from Phoenix.

She said: "I find the visit to England has given me a whole different identity.

"I'm going to be 80 in February and the meaning of this trip has taken me by surprise. It has bought everybody back."

Wreaths were laid as part of the service

Reports from the time indicated the aircraft appeared to have turned away from its flight path home to RAF Breighton in Yorkshire when it struck Cleeve Hill at about 200mph (320km/h).

Neither an RAF accident investigation nor a subsequent court of inquiry were able to fully establish the cause of the crash, as all systems on board appeared to be normal.

In December 2022, members of the Royal Air Forces Association and the Cleeve Common Trust unveiled a memorial for the crewmen, which was then formally dedicated on Monday.

The memorial names the five RCAF members who perished: 29-year-old Flying Officer Elton Freeman, 19-year-old Flying Officer John Glenn, 32-year-old Flying Officer George McCartney, 21-year-old Pilot Officer Hugh Hamilton, and Flight Lieutenant Howes.

It also lists the aircraft's two Royal Air Force crew, 23-year-old Flight Sergeant John McArdle and Sergeant Emmanuel Harris who was 20.

A crowd listened to the Last Post being played in memory of the fallen

Air Marshall Sir Dusty Miller, president of the Cheltenham branch of RAF Association, said: "I think this is really important to remember those who gave so much so we could live our lives in freedom today."

"On a much closer scale, the fact we've managed to get so many relatives of the crew, the seven men who died here, 80 years ago that is of great significance to the families - not just now but into the future, so they can look back and see what there relatives did in their part for the world."

Ed Stortz laid a wreath in memory of his great uncle

Ed Stortz, a police officer from Ontario, Canada, flew over to lay a wreath at the serivce.

His great uncle was RCAF Flying Officer John Glenn, who died aged 19 in the crash.

He said: "It means a lot to finally put this together after seeing the family speak and talk about what happened - now we know what happened.

"It puts to rest some things."

He added the crash would never be "forgotten" and that there had been "a lot of emotion" in the service.

"Hopefully, somehow they know we're here right now to honour them," he said.

Other families who had come over said they were "lost for words" and "overwhelmed" at the work that had gone into the day.