Ansty Village, Warwickshire
Commemorated on the memorial in the Village of Ansty
are six Royal Air Force trainee pilots as well as
PTE R Nason, killed in action in Italy.
Taken on Remembrance Sunday, 9th November, 2014
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If you have a moment, let me show you how I
came to be at this memorial last Sunday.
The story goes a little bit like this:
During the summer, Mr LOL and I went for a walk outside
Coombe Country Park to find an airfield next to
Rolls Royce engine works. It was a beautiful day.
Almost directly behind where we are standing now is the
former site of the Royal Air Force Station, Ansty.
With a little help from my phone, we
were able to navigate our way through the fields
to see what was left of the airfield.
Not a lot. A shame that some of this has not been preserved.
RAF Ansty opened in 1936 and closed in 1953. It was used mainly for
training new recruits in navigation skills and flying
using a variety of planes like the Tiger Moth.
The blue dot is where I am standing
to take some of these shots.
In the photo below you can see a buildings belonging to Rolls Royce.
When I got home, I looked at my photos (as we all do) and
then started doing a little research. It was then that I remembered
seeing some graves of airmen at St James Church, Ansty.
I went back last week to take some more photos.
St James Parish Churchyard, Ansty, England
From left to right:
Flight Lieutenant R G Burke, AFC, Pilot Instructor, Royal Air Force, 20th April, 1941, Age 33
Pilot Officer D N McCarthy, Pilot Instructor, Royal Air Force, 20th April, 1941, Age 24
Leading Aircraftman J Scholes, U/T Pilot, Royal Air Force, 20th April, 1941, Age 26
Pilot Officer C C Brackenbury, Pilot Instructor, Royal Air Force, 16th May, 1941, Age 24
Leading Aircraftman I S Forbes, U/T Pilot, Royal Air Force, 7th July, 1941, Age 24
Leading Aircraftman R A A Miskimmin, U/T Pilot, Royal Air Force, 27th July, 1941 (No age)
View just over the hedge:
The photo I used for November's City Daily Photo Theme Day,
Three Spires of Coventry.
Today all around the world tributes are being paid to servicemen and women
who died in service to their country since the start of World War I,
100 years ago.
10 comments:
There were a lot of pilots and airmen killed in at RAF Harwell which was on the site I work during the war. Not a lot of the place remains now though if you look you will find remnants
Wow. This is a very informative post. Thanks for sharing the images with us. It's always nice to see how others remember the fallen heroes.
Mersad
Mersad Donko Photography
LOL, I am impressed with the detective work you did. I find that memorials for real people, with names and ages, etc., are more powerful than more general memorials. Thank you.
Poignant and just right for today. The graves, of course, are so typical and proper of what you expect from the Commonwealth War Commission.
Wow, great post.
Every town, every nation, every family, every once in a while. . . . . such mixed feelings of honor for the dead and anger at their sacrifice in political games. Alas!
Delighted to see your posts again :-)
ALOHA from Honolulu
ComfortSpiral
=^..^= . <3 . >< } } (°>
I will echo Cloudia, with sadness for the loss and gladness for its commemoration. Mixed feelings indeed.
A very rewarding walk Lauren and a lovely tribute post.
Yes it is a shame, it's a place of historical importance. It's nice to see the poppies.
Wonderful post. Usually, there's an interesting back story about how someone ends up taking a photo. Your story is very interesting! I'm surprised you can still see that was an airfield -- and access it. Also, I appreciate you listing the names of the airmen and their ages. Courageous young men.
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