Heroes of the sky honoured, Teesdale Mercury

THE widow of a man who served in the Dambusters squadron was a special guest at a ceremony that honoured airmen who died in Teesdale.

Eighty-four planes have crashed in the western Pennines since 1916 – and their pilots were remembered at Teesdale Aviation Day on Wednesday.

Noreen Staples, who lives in Barnard Castle, watched as a Spitfire fighter plane flew over the town during the ceremony.

Her late husband, Cyril, served in 617 Squadron in the Second World War. The squadron was made famous by using bouncing bombs to destroy Nazi dams.

Mrs Staples said: “He was a navigator, and although he didn’t fly on the Dambuster raids, he navigated the course before they went.

“I can’t remember much about it as I was so young then and he was much older, but it’s nice to be here today.”

Fifty-three men died and three were captured in the Dambuster raids on May 17, 1943, with eight 

aircraft out of 19 being brought down.

Cyril Staples survived the war but died several years ago. No members of his crew are alive today.

Aviation enthusiast John Yarker described Mrs Staples’ attendance at the flypast as “fitting”.

He said: “It’s a lovely story and we’re glad to have her in the town.”

Mr Yarker, who organised the event, said it was an important way of remembering those who lost their lives in local crashes.

“If events like this don’t happen, we’ll end up forgetting about those who were killed,” he said.

The area’s first crash was in 1916 when a pilot ran out of fuel on Bowes Moor. Many other planes have crashed in the area, sometimes due to bad weather on the Pennines – although not all.

A German pilot was shot down in Broomielaw, near Barnard Castle, during a dog-fight in the Second World War.

RAF officers, veterans, cadets and Barnard Castle residents attended last week’s commemoration service, which was the 15th.

They gathered at the RAF memorial garden at Deerbolt Young Offenders’ Institution.

The Rowan Pipe Band, based in Winston, led a procession to the memorial garden.

A salute was taken by the commanding officer at RAF Leeming Group Captain Bill Gibson, town mayor Cllr Tony Cooke and Deerbolt governor Jenny Mooney

The service was followed by The Last Post and a lament from a lone piper. 

A Hurricane fighter was originally earmarked for the flypast, which concluded the event. 

But because of concerns about windy weather, a Mk 19 Spitfire was sent in its place. 

“It flew to Teesdale from the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, in Lincolnshire.

In 1939, pilot officer Mitchell was killed when his aircraft crashed into Great Dun Fell – the first Spitfire crash of its kind in the country.

Mr Yarker said: “It’s terribly sad, but I suppose that make’s today’s Spitfire flypast even more poignant.”

Tony Galley, who also organised the event, added: “It is so important because it allows us to remember those who are dedicated on the memorial.”

By chance, a coach packed with German tourists drove into Deerbolt Young Offenders’ Institute during the ceremony.

Mr Galley said: “We popped over for a chat – they were really 

nice.”