The walk and ceremony:

On Monday 11th November 2024 I was delighted to accompany the children from Oldfield School in the Worth Valley, to walk up to the Canadian War Memorial on Tewitt Lane.
This is the site of the crash of a Wellington Bomber on 2nd January 1944 and the school held a Service of Remembrance at 11:00 am, with two children reading the Kohima Epitaph.

I was able to tell the older children about the events of that night and show them the bomber’s flight track, including it having passed almost over their school before crashing at the top of the hill above.

Andy Wade showing some children a WW2 steel helmet similar to an Air Raid Patrol Warden’s helmet

We stopped on the bridleway opposite the Grouse Inn and I told them about the Landlord Stephen Ellison who had just locked up for the night when he was outside and saw it come out of the cloud and fly right over his pub before hitting the ground in a field nearby and continuing on to crash through a field wall and into the trees where it exploded in a fireball. Many of the trees were peppered with ammunition going off in the fire and the remaining fuel from the tanks setting the tree alight.

Andy Wade showing a group of children the damaged trees in the woods.

I showed them two of the most damaged and twisted trees which remain to this day, either side of the gap between them which is still visible. Clear something very large had passed through that spot.
I also read out some eyewitness testimonies and explained what the blackout was and what it meant on that night.

We all took part in the ceremony and afterwards we walked back to the Grouse Inn who had very kindly laid on lunch for all the children and staff.

I would like to thank the school for inviting me to take part. It was an honour to accompany them to this ceremony and share my knowledge of the events surrounding the crash.

See also:

Tewitt Lane Canadian memorial with information on the Crew member’s stories and the events of the crash.
Photographs supplied by Oldfield School.