Introduction
Ribble Valley Remembrance site article:- This project has its own set of Menu items and it is easy to access the Initial Project by using the 'Home' or 'About or Project' in the top menu.
The latest is that we have started another project named "We Shall Remember Them" which deals with all the aircraft crashes and casualties which occurred in the Forest of Bowland area.
Whilst researching our Ribble Valley project it became apparent that there were casualties from aircraft crashes in the Bowland Forest area which is adjacent to and overlaps the Ribble Valley area. There was some mention of this on our earlier project but then decided about trying to get a second project going. This was successful and most of the details can be found in our News of Bowland pages. Also here in the Youth News pages.
This project will have an additional Book of Remembrance - Roll of Honour which is currently being written. The Book of Remembrance is now completed and may be found on on the Remembrance site under the menu Bowland Forest Project.
We Shall Remember Them
Our initial research indicates that 15 planes crashed into the Forest of Bowland in the Ribble Valley during World War Two and the Berlin Air Lift resulting in 25 Airmen killed.
We would appreciate in any veteran, family member, friend or associate of any of the following who would care to contact us with a view to giving us further information on any of these men who lost their lives in the cause of Freedom and Liberty. In addition if any other individual or family that has recollections of any of these crashes could also contact us with a view to obtaining further information.
We are still at the start of our second Heritage project proposal and in discussions with the Lancashire County Council Library Heritage Services as we need a partnership agreement for the Heritage Lottery bid. Meetings have been taking place with the Royal Air Force, United Utilities who own areas of the Forest of Bowland as we plan to place the main memorial stone at Langden Brook, Norman Kelly for the Remembrance Book, Ribble Valley Borough Council and Lancashire County Council planners as well as other land owners for smaller memorials to those who died in specific areas, officers from the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty at Dunsop, Slaidburn Parish Council, St Andrews Church, Slaidburn Young Farmers, Natural England and the vicar of St Mary's Andy Froud who has been very supportive in all of our work to do with World War Two.
These casualties are now listed in Casualties of Bowland, and the crashes are in Crashes of Bowland.
We are hoping to link with the organisations who are involved in veteran flying from America, Poland, Canada, Australia and of course our own RAF.
January 25th 2012.
Proposed project 2012/13
A bid is being prepared for submission to the Heritage Lottery to erect a memorial on Burn Fell in the Forest of Bowland to those servicemen who crashed into the hills and lost their lives during World War Two. We understand 25 men were killed as a result of these crashes. We hope to put an information board in the middle of the Forest of Bowland to enable visitors to read giving more detail as to who was killed and what planes they were in as well as a small memorial in one of the local churches. Many of these men were in fact American and Canadian.
We had a very positive meeting with a represntative from the Heritage Lottery and more detailed preparation now needs to be completed before the next submission.
More information to follow. November 2011.