The event at the Church Yard of Holy Trinity Church, Freckleton came eight decades to the day since the village air disaster which claimed 61 lives, including 38 children.
A whole community gathered in the grounds of the chuch to listen to the poignant ceremony marked with yellow roses and the release of 20 white doves. The congregation fell silent as the United States Air Force sent a fly past from RAF Lakenheath followed by the Act of Remembrance with the names of the 61 people who died read out.
On Wednesday, August 23, 1944, an American B-24 Liberator Bomber crashed into the centre of Freckleton during a violent storm. The aircraft crashed into the centre of Freckleton demolishing three houses, the Sad Sack snack bar and as the plane broke up part of it crashed into the infants’ wing of the Holy Trinity village school causing a huge fireball. It was the worst single greatest civilian air disaster suffered by the Allies in the Second World War 2.
One of the remaining survivors Ruby Currell recalled: “Then all of a sudden it was noise, and I saw the teacher fall over. I looked over and saw a girl fall, and when she fell out of her desk I dived under mine.”
1. Freckleton Air Disaster - 80th anniversary
Memorial service held at Holy Trinity Church to mark the 80th anniversary of the Freckleton Air Disaster | National World Resell
