PICTURES: Memorial to crew who died in RAF Spilsby Lancaster crash 80 years ago

The Avro Lancaster ND475 of 57 Sqn Bomber Command came down in a field near Eastrea early in the morning of April 19 1944. The bomber was returning to RAF Spilsby following a raid near Paris.

Sadly all eight members of the crew died in the crash. One member of the team was just 19-years-old when the crash happened.

Today (April 19), members of the RAF, the Royal Australian Air Force, members of Whittlesey Town Council, representatives from 57 Sqn RAF, and the Royal British Legion were among those who paid their respects to the crew at Eastrea War Memorial.

The pilot of the Lancaster, Albert Edward Oberg, and co-pilot, Ronald Firth Culliford, were both from Australia, while five members of the crew were part of the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve .

A plaque was placed by the side of the memorial, to remember the eight who died in the crash.

The memorial has been privately arranged Councillors Barry Wainwright and Bob Wicks of Whittlesey Town Council.

Cllr Wainwright said it was vital the sacrifices made during the Second World War were always remembered. He said: “People came from across the world to fight for us. These brave people died in a field in Eastrea for us. Soon, there will be no more people who can remember what they did, so we are putting a memorial for them, so they can be remembered.”

The crash happened at about 1am when the Lancaster of 57 Sqn Bomber Command, RAF was returning from a successful raid on the railway yards at Juvisy-sur-Orge, near Paris, when, without warning, it went into a steep dive and crashed in the field.

The cause of the crash remains unknown, as the plane was destroyed by fire following the incident, but there was speculation at the time that the aircraft was brought down by a lone German night-fighter that attacked two other aircraft in the area that same night.

Only one body was recovered from the scene, that of Tail Gunner Sgt. Willis, who is buried in Bury Cemetery, Lancashire. The remaining crew members were never recovered and remain in that field, with memorials placed at The Air Forces Memorial at Runneymede to remember their sacrifice.

The crew:

RAAF 420493 Plt Off Albert Edward Oberg, Captain (Pilot) (age 32)

RAAF 425129 Plt Off Ronald Firth Culliford, (2nd Pilot) (age 22)

RAFVR 1522824 Sgt William Duncan Kinnes, (age not known)

RAFVR 174670 Plt Off Edmund Forbes Crossley, (age 34)

RAFVR 174690 Plt Off Herbert Rex Pizzey, (age 23)

RAFVR 1394671 Sgt Joseph Stewart Richards, (age 20)

RAF 174599 Plt Off Henry Harris Adams, (age 40)

RAFVR 2208994 Sgt John Frederick Willis, (age 19)