Page 22 • The HERALD • 1st August 2024 v SAY YOU SAW IT IN THE HERALD v • New flooring & repairs • Interior & exterior fitted windows & doors • Fitted kitchens • Stairs & decking • Architrave & skirting • Pergolas & car ports • Gates made & fitted • Bespoke Summer houses • Garden structures & landscaping structures • Roofing & Fencing • Fencing • Structural wooden repairs James Powell Carpentry Jamespowellcarpentry.co.uk and find on Check a Trade Contact 07500 113098 Call for a no obligation quote PolarPlastics PVC-U SPECIALIST IN: l WINDOWS l DOORS l CONSERVATORIES l FASCIAS l CLADDING l GUTTERING l GLASS UNITS l WINDOW REPAIRS l FENCING & GATES www.polarplastics.co.uk Email: sales@polarplastics.co.uk l Open 6 Days a Week l No Hard Sale Family Business l 10 Year Insurance Backed Guarantee Registered Company 10 HOLBURY PRECINCT, HOLBURY DROVE, HOLBURY TEL: (023) 8089 9611 • Re-Skimming • Rendering • Coving • Dry Lining • Tacking • Artex Covered • Floor Screeding www.tbrownplastering.co.uk Call: 07919 183989 Friendly • Reliable • Professional • Free Estimates REFURBISHERS ALWAYS TRY TO MEET YOUR BUDGET RELIABLE! EXCELLENT REFERENCES! INSURED! Catalogue of previous works to view Plaster work • Floor & Wall Tiling • Wall removal • Bathroom Design & Fit • Laminate/Wood Flooring • Painting • Insulation • Decking • PVCu Gutter & Fascia OUR HANDYMAN SERVICES • Rubbish clearance • Gutters • Jet washing conservatories, paths and patios • Flat pack assembly • Van removals • NO JOB TOO SMALL • FIXED PRICES • WRITTEN QUOTATIONS P Strus 07414 779083 Email: p.strus7@gmail.com Send your local news to The Editor, The Herald, 2 High Street, Hythe SO45 6AH August 1943: The Darkest Month Marc hosts monthly local history talks, visit: nfhwa.org/events for details. June this year marked the eightieth anniversary of D-Day, an occasion widely covered by the media and solemnly observed through remembrance ceremonies. ese commemorations rightly honoured the brave men who gave their lives on that pivotal day as well as during the post-invasion weeks of June. e sacri ces included many men who le the New Forest by sea and air. Using Beaulieu Air eld as an example, two young American pilots were killed on D-Day, with a further eleven fatalities su ered over the remainder of June. is signi cant number of casualties is especially poignant, as these men lost Wellington crashed into his home. All six Canadian men on the Wellington, which had le Beaulieu Air eld just ten minutes earlier, were killed. Eight days later, on the 21st, tragedy struck Beaulieu Air eld again. is time, it involved a Liberator of No. 311 (Czechoslovak) Squadron RAF, with eight men on board. e aircra failed to return from a sortie over the Bay of Biscay, where the Czechoslovak crew had been hunting for German U-boats. On the 29th, a further eight Czechoslovak airmen were killed when their Liberator crashed in woodland a mile from the air eld. en less than twenty four hours later, another Czechoslovak airman was killed when his Liberator was hit by gun re from a German aircra . He died on board, and his distraught crew brought his body back to Beaulieu. is dark month in Beaulieu Air eld’s history wasn’t over. On the 30th, six more Czechoslovak airmen died when their Liberator crashed near Brockenhurst. August 1943 had been a horri c month for No. 311 (Czechoslovak) Squadron, with twenty-three men lost in the span of just nine days. Including the six Canadians killed at Sway, a total of twenty-nine men lost their lives that month a er leaving the RAF Beaulieu runways. is horrendous death toll not only highlights the horrors of war but also underscores the cosmopolitan nature of the men who ew from the local air elds. August 1943 was a sombre chapter in RAF Beaulieu’s history and o ers a poignant reminder of the immense cost of freedom. by Marc Heighway e rst tragedy, which I have mentioned in e Herald previously, occurred on Friday the 13th. A Wellington bomber assigned to the Royal Canadian Air Force was diverted to Beaulieu due to bad weather. A er a few hours of rest, the crew decided to take o for their home air eld in Cornwall. Unbeknownst to them, they were ying into the ight path of an RAF Halifax that had taken o from RAF Holmsley South. e two aircra collided in midair, and the wreckage fell on the village of Sway, killing all crew members on both bombers. Tragically, a man in Sway was also killed when the Czechoslovak Airmen at Beaulieu Airfield in 1943 their lives thousands of miles from their homes in the United States. But in terms of death toll, June 1944 wasn’t the highest. at grim record goes to the month of August in 1943, when twenty-three Czechoslovaks and six Canadians were killed in ve separate incidents a er taking o from Beaulieu Air eld. Continued on page 23
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