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On 7th October 2006 my wife and I were on our way to the village of North
Thoresby in Lincolnshire to attend a memorial service for the eight crew members
of a Lancaster aircraft of 100 Squadron that had broken up in mid air during air
trials over the village on 4th October 1943.
I have
been trying to help one of the village councillors, Mr Dave Barnet to trace the
families of this crew and so I took the opportunity of visiting Langar and
the airfield and to stay overnight there on our journey to North Thoresby.
It was an opportunity for me to walk in my cousins, PO
Arthur Fitzgerald's footsteps and also those of his crew as well as the many
other members of 207 Squadron that were based at Langar during WW2.
Interestingly, the pilot of the stricken Lancaster in
North Thoresby was named Thomas Morgan, originally a RCAF member but had just
transferred to the USAAF at the time of his death.
Thomas had flown a number of operations on the same raids
as the crew of ED627.
The photo's below show some of the places that the
squadron members would have attended such as the church and pub and they also
show the original control tower which is now the home of the British Parachute
Schools in Langar.
Further photo's show the runway, perimeter road and dispersal points as
they are today.
Note... All photo's with
the exception of the Google Earth photo's below
are © Shaun McGuire 2006 - 2007 St Andrews church, Langar
The photo's show the exterior and interior of the church and
the Book of Remembrance. The photo's here are in
addition too and complimentary too, the photo's already on this site in the
"Memorials" page taken by David Robinson.
A "Roll of
Honour" book listing the casualties of
ALL 207 Squadron and No.7 Squadron RNAS
members is housed in Lincoln Cathedral and can be
viewed on the 207 Squadron website by clicking this link
HERE
click on all images on the page to enlarge
________________________________ The
Unicorns Head This was probably the local pub
that was used by the members of 207 Squadron during the their time at Langar.


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The Airfield
Some photo's of the airfield showing the perimeter road, possible dispersal
points and the runway photographed from one end with the control tower in the
distance and also three photo's of the only original Hangar left at Langar.
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The Control Tower
The
control tower today is now used by the British Parachute School.
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The Memorial
Some photo’s of the 207 Squadron memorial at the entrance to
the airfield at Langar. Also at the memorial is a bench seat donated by Mrs
Dorothy Ware in memory of her husband Sgt Thomas Skelton, one of the many air
crew that never returned.
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Langar photo's from Google
Earth

St Andrews Church
Unicorn Pub
Airfield and Runways

Memorial
Control Tower
Hangar
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