Dedication
of Royal Canadian Air Force Memorial
Memorial
Green, Roade
Sunday 9th November 2014
Roade
remembers...
At 1.35 pm on the 29th
June 1944, a Blackpool-built Vickers Wellington B.III bomber, serial number
HF641, of 22 Operational Training Unit took off from RAF Wellesbourne, Mountford,
Warwickshire on a navigation exercise. On
board were its crew of six men from the Royal Canadian Air Force: F/O R J Andrews, Sgt W H Clark, Sgt A H
MacKimmie, Sgt J B Sollie, P/O C E Stephen and F/O P W Tokar. During the flight the aircraft
encountered turbulence and eventually entered a thunderstorm. At 5.20 pm the
aircraft was struck by lightning and disintegrated over Roade.
Very few villagers
remember this tragic event 70 years ago but these young men (one just 18 years
old) gave their lives for the same cause as our own Roade boys and the memorial
will ensure that their ultimate sacrifice will not be forgotten.
Many people and
organisations helped to make the event a success and the cost of the memorial
itself was met by Roade Parish Council , Roade Local History Society and Sywell Aviation
Museum. Although led by Roade Local History Society,
the project became truly a village affair and one of our members laid a wreath,
not from the Society, but from the people of Roade.
The following account of
the day is based on a letter written to friends and well-wishers in Canada by our
project leader Ron Johnson:
November 9th saw the dedication of our memorial to the 6 RCAF
boys who lost their lives over Roade, 70 years ago, during WW2. It was a
splendid occasion and we were blessed with a wonderfully sunny, windless day.
Hundreds of villagers turned out to pay tribute to
the boys of Roade, who went away to two world wars and didn’t return, and this
year, to pay special homage to “Our Canadian Boys”. We also saluted the few
ex-servicemen and women from Roade who are still able to parade under the colours,
and be applauded as they proudly marched behind our Scout Band.
We were joined by a young RCAF Warrant Officer,
Dipen Mistry, who is presently stationed here in the UK. A more impressive
representative, we couldn’t have wished for - most dashing in his uniform, and
with his lovely family accompanying him, W/O Mistry unveiled the memorial,
which stands on our Memorial Green.
“Oh, Canada” was played at the end of our
Remembrance Day service in St Mary’s church, and again by the Scout Band (who had little time to rehearse) at the
end of the dedication of the memorial. The service was conducted by Bishop
John, of Brixworth.
Travelling over 4,000 miles, the Pye family,
relatives of one of our ‘Boys’, laid their wreath at the memorial and spent a
couple of days with us - looking around sites of interest. Sitting round the
supper table chatting with them was one of the highlights of a busy and
emotional weekend, and we thank them for coming so far (from Alberta) to join us.
After the dedication we put on an exhibition at
which we displayed our research on the 6 boys – photos, letters, maps, reports
etc. We were pleased to see so many Roade residents come and get to know a bit
about the boys who had lost their lives so far from home – it was absolutely
packed out, and we thank the Methodist
Church for hosting us,
and providing much-needed tea, coffee and, most importantly, cake!
Below are a few photos of the occasion, but we have
so many more – plus some very nice video film (by Roade resident Paul King of
4Thought Productions, assisted by one of our members, Peter Doddington). Should
you wish to see these, please let us know and we will make the appropriate
arrangements.
So, the RCAF memorial is now there, sitting proudly
next to our war memorial (erected over 90 years ago, after WW1), and although
the memorial itself is obviously important to us all, it is worth remembering
that the connections we have made over the past 6 months - our village, and our
Canadian friends across the ocean, will hopefully remain and blossom, all of
which together, will indeed be a fitting tribute to “Our Canadian Boys”.
The following photographs were taken by Ron
Johnson and Amy Mistry:
Thanks are due to all those who have helped to make
this commemoration possible, particularly:
Roade Parish Council
and
Sywell Aviation Museum
www.sywellaerodrome.co.uk/museum
for their generous donations
Roade and District Branch, Royal British Legion
The Canadian High Commission
Warrant
Officer Dipen Mistry
who unveiled the memorial
The Rt Revd
John Holbrook
Bishop of
Brixworth
who dedicated the memorial
The Revd Michael Burton
St Mary’s Church, Roade
Roade Methodist Church
Grafton District Scout Band
Paul King
www.4thought.com
for filming the event
and most importantly
all those relatives and well-wishers in Canada who have
contributed so much to this project
Roade Local History
Society
December 2014
