An 80th anniversary memorial to the crew of Halifax bomber MZ311
With the end of World War II almost in sight, a fact unknowable at the time, 7 young airmen bravely took to the air in Halifax bomber MZ311 of No 78 Sqn in the late evening of 25 of August 1944, and into the teeth of enemy flak and night fighters as they had done so very many times in the preceding months.
Having completed their hazardous mission off the west coast of France they returned towards the safety and comfort of their home base at RAF Breighton in Yorkshire, yet some unknown occurrence caused them to perish in a crash high up on the escarpment of Cleeve Common, overlooking the Cotswold town of Cheltenham.
There, the crash remained largely forgotten for almost 80 years other than by a small and rapidly dwindling number of local residents who remembered it from their childhood. However, 4 years ago, an aviation history enthusiast in Australia with family in the Cheltenham area became interested in the event and carried out some research. He contacted the Cheltenham Branch of the Royal Air Forces Association and the Cleeve Common Trust (the Trustees of the land where the crash occurred) and this prompted the two organisations to plan a monument to the crew.
A small fragment of aircraft wreckage was found on Cleeve Common in the Summer of 2020 and, following extensive and painstaking research, was identified as being the final remaining part of Halifax MZ311 which had crashed there in 1944. Further research identified and located the surviving relatives of the 7-man crew, 5 of whom were Canadian.
The Cleeve Common Trust erected a simple stone marker with a plaque bearing the names of the lost airmen at the site where the aircraft crashed. This was unveiled on the 7 of December 2022 in a short ceremony organised by the Cheltenham Branch.
On the 26 of August 2024, the 80th anniversary of the crash, the memorial was officially dedicated by The Venerable (Air Vice-Marshal) Ron Hesketh CB RAF(Retd), a former Chaplain-in-Chief to the Royal Air Force and a member of the Cheltenham Branch. The service took place at the memorial site, with speeches and refreshments for invited guests later in the nearby Cleeve Hill Golf Club. Surviving relatives from Canada, USA and across the UK were in attendance alongside civic dignitaries and senior officers of the RAF and RCAF. Wreaths were laid by Colonel Jonathan Bouchard MSM CD RCAF: on behalf of the High Commission of Canada in the United Kingdom and the Royal Canadian Air Force; Air Marshal Sir Dusty Miller KBE RAF: on behalf of the Royal Air Forces Association Cheltenham Branch; Constable Edward Stortz, Windsor Police Service, Canada: on behalf of the relatives of the crew of MZ311 and Wing Commander lan Evans LLB MA RAF: Officer Commanding 78 Squadron RAF.
Of note is that a contingent of personnel from today’s 78 Sqn paraded in uniform, and a trumpeter and bag-piper from RAF Brize Norton played the Last Post and Reveille, and a haunting Lament respectively, adding to the symbolism and poignancy of the event. Standard Bearers from a number of RAFA, RBL and other ex-Service organisations were there to salute the fallen, and members of the Cleeve Common Trust and the Cheltenham Branch were on hand to host guests and ensure that the day went well. The end of the Dedication was marked by a flypast of an A400M Atlas aircraft from RAF Brize Norton in salute to fallen comrades.
Wreaths were laid by Colonel Jonathan Bouchard MSM CD RCAF; Air Marshal Sir Dusty Miller KBE RAF; Constable Edward Stortz, Windsor Police Service Ontario; and Wing Commander Ian Evans LLB RAF, Officer Commanding No 78 Sqn RAF
The Salute to the Fallen
Chief Technician Sophie Hobson, trumpeter, and Squadron Leader Linda McLean, piper
Some of the Many Attendees from Canada, USA and the UK
The Halifax crew comprised: Flying Officer Elton Eugene Freeman, Royal Canadian Air Force, navigator; Flying Officer John Alexander Glenn, Royal Canadian Air Force, air gunner; Pilot Officer Hugh Brannan Hamilton, Royal Canadian Air Force, air gunner; Sergeant Emmanuel Henry Harris, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, wireless operator; Flight Lieutenant Charles Maurice Howes, Royal Canadian Air Force, pilot; Flight Sergeant John McArdle, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, flight engineer; Flying Officer George William McCartney, Royal Canadian Air Force, air bomber.
Britain depended on vital supplies from North America and the Empire in the Second World War. These had to be transported in merchant ships across the Atlantic Ocean, where they could be attacked by German U-boats and warships. Although the threat from German warships had all but disappeared by May 1941, the fall of France in June 1940 gave the U-boats bases on the Atlantic coast, and U-boat production increased during Spring 1941, giving the Germans enough submarines to deploy groups or ‘wolf packs’. The U-boats were based in massive pens that were well-protected by air defences and almost impervious to bombing. Laying mines in coastal areas close to the pens was a vitally important means of destroying U-boats or impeding their transit.
On the night of Friday 25 August 1944 Bomber Command operated a total of 1,311 sorties. Halifax MZ311 was captained by Flt Lt Howes; he and his crew were briefed to lay sea mines off La Pallice, the commercial deep-water port of La Rochelle (also known as Grand Port Maritime de La Rochelle), in the Gardening areas known as Cinnamon & Young Cinnamon. “Gardening” was the RAF term for dropping mines from bomber aircraft into the sea. The mines were “sown” near ports and harbours, inland waterways, estuaries and in busy shipping lanes. The goal was to disrupt enemy naval activities and hinder shipping traffic
Having successfully laid the sea mines, MZ311 set off on the return journey to RAF Breighton. For reasons that have never been established, it crashed in the early hours of the morning of 26 August 2024, killing all those on board. The courage of the crew, alongside their contemporaries, to launch repeatedly into the night knowing full well that the odds against their survival were very high, is simply astonishing by any measure, which makes their loss in this way even more tragic. We owe our freedom today to the unflinching courage and determination of these men, and a key role of the Royal Air Forces Association is to ensure that we and others proudly and thankfully remember them, as we did with this memorial and the Dedication event.
Flypast of A400M from RAF Brize Norton in memory of Halifax Bomber.
