Sutton Wick Air Crash Memorial

by The Memorial Mob in Hayle, England, United Kingdom

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On 23rd May 2024 we successfully raised £110 with 2 supporters in 28 days

The Memorial Mob wish to create a new stone memorial for the victims of the 1957 Sutton Wick air crash in Berkshire (now Oxfordshire).

by The Memorial Mob in Hayle, England, United Kingdom

The Memorial Mob were created to honour the loss of XH117Z a Blackburn Beverley of 53 Squadron in the hamlet of Sutton Wick, near Drayton, Berkshire (now Oxfordshire).

In 2017 a temporary memorial was created at the crash site for the first time since the crash, on finding out about it, we managed to put something in place weeks before the anniversary of the crash.

In 2018 a new sign took it's place crafted by a local resident, who himself had served in the Royal Air Force. This wonderful memorial has now become damaged by the weather and we hope to restore it, and place in an indoor venue to protect it from the elements.

This image shows Sutton Wick air crash memorial event at Fort Paull near Hull, who until recently were the only keepers of a Blackburn Beverley aircraft. A memorial information board was placed in the aircraft.

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Sadly the Beverley is no longer currently on public display, so we hope to create a memorial made from stone to honour the crew. The stone would feature the names of the local residents tragically killed and injured. as well as the RAF crews from both 53 Squadron and 47 Squadron Royal Air Force (47 Sqn were a reserve crew on the way to meet one of their own aircraft).

Also onboard XH117Z were 8 RAF Police dog handlers and their dogs, on their way to their first overseas tour in Cyprus, who would feature on a panel as would the background information about the tragic incident of the crash.

The image below shows the tail section of Blackburn Beverley XH117Z, where the dog handlers were seated, is seen resting against a farm house which still stands at the edge of the green where the Sutton Wick Memorial sits.

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The Memorial Mob would like to have a new memorial in place before the next key anniversary (70th) in 2027. We would also like to add to the planting on the green, red fritillaries for the local residents, bluebells for the Royal Air Force crews and snowdrops for the RAF police and purple poppies for the RAF Police dogs.

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