Memorial to WW2 airmen who died training off Manx coast

The bench has been installed a position so that it overlooks Port Soderick Bay

A memorial bench to 22 young airmen who died during training exercises off the Manx coast during the last two years of World War Two has been unveiled.

The wooden structure, in the shape of the Fairey Barracuda Torpedo Bombers they were flying when they were killed in accidents, has been installed at Port Soderick.

The planes were flown by Fleet Air Arm airmen from HMS Urley in Castletown, with targets towed out into the bay in the area.

Bill Walton from Heroes on the Water, which organised the commemoration, said the charity "believe the airmen should be remembered" alongside those who died in combat.

It is thought the deaths were caused by both structural failures and errors made by the airmen learning how to fly the aircraft.

Mr Walton said: "They may have died in training accidents but they were preparing for war."

"That to me is no less than someone who lost their lives on the front line, this is a story that needs to be told."

The plane was the first of its type used by the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm to be made entirely from metal

The idea for the commemoration came about after one of the organisation's members pointed out there was no memorial for the airmen who died in "Barracuda Bay", which was something that "we thought should be rectified", Mr Walton said.

Fundraising for the bench included selling barracuda pin badges and necklaces made with sea glass collected from the bay.

Wednesday's unveiling ceremony was attended by Chief Minister Alfred Cannan and the Lieutenant Governor Sir John Lorimer, who are both ex-servicemen.

Veterans and representatives from the armed forces and emergency services attended the ceremony

Unveiling the memorial the lieutenant governor said the idea of friends, relatives and the Manx public being able to "sit and rest and reflect" while looking out over the bay was "pretty special".

A roll call of names and ages of the airmen, who died between November 1944 and October 1945, was read out along with the post and home towns of each.

The proceedings also saw a wreath laid at sea by the members of the RNLI.

The airmen were aged between 19 and 24

Organiser of Armed Forces Day on the island Colin Kelsey said as a former RAF officer he understood "how difficult it is to fly aircraft and maintain them".

He said it was "poignant the memorial overlooks the bay in which people lost their lives".

"If you sit and think, then you can probably appreciate the suffering and the sacrifice a lot more from a position of tranquillity," he added.