Page 22 • The HERALD • 15th May 2025 v SAY YOU SAW IT IN THE HERALD v WILLIS DECORATING & JOINERY SERVICES Est Since 1986 Hand-painted Kitchens - Transform your Kitchen Interior & Exterior Painting and Decorating Call David on 023 8084 9800 or 07946 048261 E: david.willis24@btinternet.com Before After M. C. HALL LTD 4 Carpentry 4 Fencing 4 Decoration 4 Extensions 4 Kitchens 4 Loft Conversions 4 Bathrooms 4 New Build First Rate Building & Carpentry Work Start to Finish Service • References Available • Fully Insured • 1 year guarantee Free Quotations and Friendly Advice Given Contact: mchall126@btinternet.com or call 023 8089 8456 or 07976 937941 Website: www.mchallltd.co.uk The Wartime Air Crash with a Tragic Connection to Brockenhurst by Marc Heighway Marc hosts monthly local history talks, visit: nfhwa.org/ events for details. On 18th October 1942, a terrible accident occurred near South Ruislip train station in Uxbridge, Middlesex, claiming the lives of twenty-one people. Among the victims were two families from the New Forest, creating a tragic link between the crash and Brockenhurst. at day, a Vickers Wellington bomber from No. 311 (Czechoslovak) Squadron RAF, a unit based at RAF Talbenny in Wales, was ying to RAF Northolt. e aircra was on a non-operational ight carrying two full Czechoslovak aircrews (one ying, the other travelling as passengers), along with a Belgian airman who had hitched a ride to London while on leave. In total, een men were on board. As the bomber approached RAF Northolt from the west daughters: Molly (12) and Beryl Street (5), and Ruth (4) and Marion Reay (just 18 months old). All cousins, the girls had been playing together at the time of the crash. e women and children were from Brockenhurst and had been visiting friends and family in the area. eir joint funeral took place on 24th October 1942, conducted by Reverend Haslam. All six were laid to rest together in St Nicholas Churchyard, Brockenhurst. is incident remains the single greatest loss of life in a single crash involving a Wellington bomber, and the deadliest for No. 311 (Czechoslovak) Squadron RAF Remembrance notice at around 1600 hours, witnesses saw it descending with its undercarriage lowered. e pilot banked steeply to port in preparation for landing. Tragically, the aircra stalled during the manoeuvre and entered a vertical dive. It clipped a wingtip on a nearby road and ipped over, crashing onto waste ground close to South Ruislip station, an area where children had been playing. e impact caused the aircra to erupt into ames. e heat detonated the ammunition in the aircra ’s machine guns, which began ring wildly in all directions. All fifteen airmen, fourteen Czechoslovak and the Belgian, were killed. On the ground, six civilians also lost their lives. ey were two sisters, Phyllis Street (35) and Lily Reay (32), and their four young Graves in Brockenhurst Graves in Brockenhurst 311 Squadron Wreckage Ruislip during the war. In a twist of fate, just six months a er the tragedy, No. 311 Squadron would relocate from RAF Talbenny in Wales, to a new base - RAF Beaulieu in the New Forest. e air eld, along with its accommodation areas, lay just two miles from the graves of the women and children killed at South Ruislip.
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