Halam Lancaster Memorial



Memorial to the Crew of Avro Lancaster ED823 In the early hours of Saturday 10th April 1943 Lancaster ED823 belonging to 1661 Heavy Conversion Unit (H.C.U.) took off from RAF Winthorpe, near Newark. At 01:25 the aircraft crashed in Halam shortly after take-off, just eight miles from the airfield. 1661 H.C.U. at RAF Winthorpe was a unit set up to train aircrews to fly heavy bombers such as the Manchester and Lancaster. The six week course was designed to "convert" the crews from flying lighter aircraft to larger, heavier ones. The final part of the aircrews' training course was night navigational exercises, such as the flight ED823 was making when it crashed. All seven crew members were sadly killed in the crash. The crash site is about 1/2 mile from the centre of the village of Halam. It is on the west facing slope of a gentle hill; in 1943 the field was pasture, now in 2011 it is part of Norwood Park Golf Course.
Aerial view of part of Halam parish showing the crash site and the position of the Lancaster Bomber Memorial Looking up the gentle slope of the golf course to where the Lancaster crashed - the poplar trees along the ridge of the hill were not there in 1943
RAF Winthorpe Much of the airfield at Winthorpe is now part of the Newark Showground, but part is used by Newark Air Museum which amongst other exhibits and static aircraft displays has a display of material associated with 1661 H.C.U. The runways can still be clearly seen today and there is a memorial on the site in honour of 1661 H.C.U. Aerial view of Winthorpe airfield as it is today (2010) - the outlines of the three original runways can be seen
	The conrol tower at Winthorpe airfield derelict in the early 1990s; it was demolished shortly after this picture was taken
The Memorial The Halam Lancaster Memorial will display the badges of the airforces of Great Britain, Australia and Canada in honour of the three different airforces from which the crew was drawn. The inscription on the Lancaster Bomber Memorial The Halam Lancaster Memorial displays the badges of the airforces of Great Britain, Australia and Canada in honour of the three different airforces from which the crew was drawn.

For more information about the aircrew and their Lancaster bomber - CLICK HERE

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