“I clearly recall being told about it and being taken to the grave” Freckleton Air Disaster – 80 years on

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A woman who lost her sister in the Freckleton Air Disaster has written a new book on the tragedy.

Angela Procter’s mum Edna Lonsdale was pregnant with her when tragedy struck on the morning of August 23, 1944, as a US Air Force bomber based at Warton crashed into Holy Trinity School, killing 61 people, including 38 children.

Among the victims was Georgina Lonsdale, the four-year-old elder sister Angela never knew. Angela was born early in 1945, but the tale of the sister she lost and the lasting mark the tragedy left on the village have been clear memories for her for as long as she can remember.

She also lost a cousin, Judy, in the disaster, and there was double heartbreak for Judy’s mum, Angela’s aunt Janie, around whom Angela’s book Children of the Storm, mainly revolves.

Janie also lost her husband in the war, as he was killed in Normandy, and she ended up marrying an American ^[2] serviceman she met in the aftermath of the Freckleton ^[3] disaster and went to live in the States.

"My sister Jane, who was too young for school at the time of the crash but still lives in Freckleton, is named after Auntie Janie and we have always been a close big family who were very much affected by the air crash, as was the whole village,” said Angela, who now lives in Churchtown, near Garstang.

"The story of how it affected us in particular and my knowledge that I lost a sister have been part of me for as long as I can remember and I clearly recall being told about it being taken to the grave and laying flowers from being a very young girl.

"It is a story I have always told through the years and I wanted to get it written down for the sake of my six grandchildren. I never really thought about it having a wider audience but it was suggested I publish it and the response has been very positive.

"The crash left a lasting mark on the village and should never be forgotten. I have always made a point of going along to the memorial service every year and I certainly intend to be there again on Friday.”

Angela’s book Children of the Storm is available through Amazon ^[4].

Remembrance service

The 80th anniversary of one of Fylde’s greatest tragedies is being marked on Friday, August 23 with a remembrance service and flower laying ceremony.

The event at 10.30am in the Church Yard of Holy Trinity Church, Freckleton comes eight decades to the day since the village air disaster which claimed 61 lives, including 38 children.

On Wednesday, August 23, 1944, an American B-24 Liberator Bomber crashed into the centre of Freckleton during a violent storm.

It was one of two newly-refurbished B24’s being tested from the BAD 2 site of the American Air Forces base at Warton prior to delivery back to the front.

Both planes departed Warton Aerodrome on a test flight at 10.30am but due to an impeding storm, both aircraft were recalled to base shortly after take-off.

On return, visibility was recorded as “significantly reduced”. The first aircraft landed in the storm, but the second aircraft, named Classy Chassis II, being flown by 1st Lieutenant John Bloemandal reported he was aborting his approach to the airfield and was going round again.

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, with the death toll of 61 including 38 of the four- to six-year-old children in the reception class, two of their teachers, the three USAAF aircrew, 1st Lieutenant Bloemandal, the pilot, Technical Sergeant Jimmie Parr, who was the co-pilot, and flight engineer Sergeant Gordon Kinney.

Alongside the residents killed, the staff and customers in the snack bar at the time including four RAF members and six USAAF personal sheltering from the storm also died.

The majority of the child victims along with Miss Jennie Hall, a teacher who had arrived at the school only the day before the accident, as well as a number of civilians killed in snack bar, were buried in a communal grave in the Holy Trinity churchyard – and that will be the scene of the start of the service of remembrance and flower laying on the 80th anniversary.

Bishop of Blackburn the Right Rev. Philip North will be in attendance alongside clergy from the Three Churches of Freckleton, Fylde may Coun Karen Henshaw, representatives of Lancashire County Council, Freckleton Parish Council, BAE Systems, survivors of the air disaster and other village groups and organisations.

Weather permitting, the United States Air Force are sending a fly past from RAF Lakenheath at 10.30, followed by the Act of Remembrance with the names of the 61 people who died read out, followed by the laying of floral tributes and the release of 20 doves.

The service will then continue inside the church, with music from Freckleton Band followed by the blessing of a new blue plaque to mark the site of the original school, followed by refreshments and a small exhibition in the Freckleton Memorial Hall.

Among the survivors from the class involved were Ruby Currell, now 85, who was left with burns to a leg, an arm and her face, who still lives in Freckleton and will be at the memorial event, and David Madden, who is travelling to the 80th anniversary ceremony from his home in Swindon.

Patricia Knight, who is co-ordinating tomorrow’s commemoration on behalf of Freckleton Parish Council, Fylde Council and the local churches, has family connections to the crash, along with her two sisters, as their mum and dad Edna and Harry were pupils of the school at the time.

She said: “On the day both my parents who attended that school, but were older, escaped, due to the help of the American servicemen who formed a chain to get many traumatised children, over the school wall and into a safe area, several American personal and the headmaster Mr. Billington suffered burns, trying to help children trapped.

"Eight children of the reception class were pulled out alive and taken to the base hospital where sadly five died in the next few days from their injuries, three survived and they remained in hospitals for a long period of treatment.

"At the funeral on August 26, 1944, American service men carried the children’s coffins, prepared the grave and later erected a granite cross and plinth with all the names of those buried in the grave, the American authorities bearing the cost of the grave and stone, and a memorial fund set up by BAD2 servicemen, many of whom were only in their late teens and early twenties.

“The BAD2 motto was ‘It can be Done’ and so they did. Personnel from the airbase began work on an area of land nearby converting it into a memorial garden and children’s playground still in use today, this was dedicated in August 1945, the stone in the memorial garden is inscribed: ‘This playground presented to the children of Freckleton by their neighbours of Base Air Depot No.2 USAAF in recognition and remembrance of their common loss in the disaster of August 23rd 1944’.

“Recent events remind us that the sudden death of innocent children on such a scale has a huge affect on the community. People in Freckleton still live with the scars and terrible memories 80 years on, and that generation should never be forgotten.”

Sombre pictures of Freckleton Air Disaster and the aftermath of the tragic Fylde incident 80 years ago

On the morning of August 23, 1944, a terrible storm descended on Freckleton the likes of which its youngest residents had never seen before.

Four, five, and six-year-olds at the Holy Trinity Church of England School had finished their morning prayers, and the large folding wall that separated the classrooms had been drawn across the hall.

Young teacher Jennie Hall, who was just 21 years old and had just finished her training, had stepped in to teach the five and six-year-olds as their regular teacher stayed at home to nurse her sick mother. Next door was Louisa Hulme, an experienced tutor who was looking forward to retirement that Christmas, and her class of four-year-olds.

The classrooms were partially separated with a large partition, where children were to pin their proudest work for the upcoming term.

Miss Hall was just about to read her children a story when the tragedy struck.

From her little chair at the front of the classroom, near the door, five-year-old Ruby Currell heard the roar of a fighter jet engine fill the air - and saw her teacher fall to the floor.

“It started off a reasonably nice morning, but by 10.30am it went very, very dark - as dark as night, ” Ruby, now 85 and still living in Freckleton, recalled.

“That’s when we had to get the lights put on, for the teacher to see what she was doing.

“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.”

Flying overhead to the aerodrome in neighbouring Warton, American first lieutenant John Bloemendal had lost control of his B-24 heavy bomber plane and plummeted onto the peaceful village below.

He crashed into the Sad Sack Snack Bar, killing six American servicemen, an RAF airman and seven staff, before crossing Lytham road and bursting into flames in the school’s infant wing.

Some 34 children and one of the teachers, Jennie Hall, were killed instantly.

Four other children and teacher Louisa Hulme later died in hospital from their injuries, along with an American serviceman and three RAF airmen.

Miraculously, none of the children in other parts of the school were hurt.

But only three children in the infant classrooms - Ruby, George Carey and David Madden - survived. George died in 2015, while David, now living in Swindon, is expected to join Ruby at the 80th anniversary service..

References

^{^} Visit Shots! now (www.shotstv.com)
^{^} American (www.blackpoolgazette.co.uk)
^{^} Freckleton (www.blackpoolgazette.co.uk)
^{^} Amazon (www.amazon.co.uk)