Diocesan News
Spitfire tribute as fallen WW2 airmen are remembered at service in Ballykelly
Relatives of three RAF crewmen, who died when their plane crashed in a field in Ballykelly during the Second World War, attended a commemoration event on Sunday afternoon during which a memorial stone was unveiled by members of the men’s families and dedicated by the local Rector, the Rev Canon Harold Given.
The event took place in the Rectory Field, near Tamlaghtfinlagan Church of Ireland, where parts of the wreckage of the crewmen’s Bristol Beaufort AW271 were found. The discovery followed an excavation by members of The Foyle College Aviation Team – nicknamed the ‘F–Cats’ – and a team from Queen’s University Belfast. The project was led by Jonny McNee, whose father, the Rev Canon Bill McNee – a former Rector of Tamlaghtfinlagan – took part in today’s short Service.
Canon Given told those gathered for the Memorial Service that the Parish of Tamlaghtfinlagan had a long association with the RAF. “On this Sunday,” he said, “in years gone by, we would have had about 30 members of the RAF who would come back to Ballykelly and join with us, in the parish church, on this, the first Sunday of September – Battle of Britain Day – and we would have our Service and our remembrance there. So, it’s very fitting that we meet here this afternoon for an RAF Service, as it were, to remember not only these three men but all those who have given their lives in the service of their country and in the cause of freedom.”
The crewmen who died were Flight Lieutenant Archibald Livingstone, Flight Lieutenant Richard Holdsworth and Flight Sergeant Stanley Chadwick. A copper beech now marks the spot where their plane came down in April 1942.
During the Memorial Service, a period of silence was observed, and there was a flypast by a World War Two Spitfire. Flight Lieutenant Livingstone’s nephew, David Livingstone; Flight Sergeant Chadwick’s son, Ron; and Flight Lieutenant Holdsworth’s daughter, the Rev Di Hervey, performed readings at Sunday’s Service.
Wreaths were laid by the Roe Valley Branch of the Royal Air Forces Association, and by Wing Commander Steve McCleery, Officer Commanding 502 (Ulster) Squadron, RAF.
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