On 9th June 2007, 40 members of the No. 75 (New Zealand) Squadron Association visited Bressingham near Diss, Norfolk, to remember the crash of Short Stirling 'AA:L' of that squadron and the loss of its entire crew on 9th June 1943. The visit marked the 64th anniversary of the loss - to the day.
The 1070 (Diss) ATC cadets paraded the ATC and British Legion Colours for the visiting veterans. The day included a visit to the crash site, a memorial service and a fly-past in honour of the lost crew.
Stirling Mk III, squadron marking 'AA:L' was a newly delivered aircraft, serial number BK770, fresh from the Austin Motors factory at Longbridge, Birminghan. It had been received by 75 Squadron on 4 April 1943 - just 5 days previously - part of a batch of 150 Short S.29 Stirling Mk.I/IIIs supplied to the RAF by Austin between March and May 1943.
During the Winter of 1942-43, the Squadron had been displaced from its regular base at Mildenhall while concrete runways were being laid there and was operating from the satellite airfield at Newmarket Heath (previously, and subsequently, the famous racecourse).
Stirling 'AA:L' left its base at at 21:30 on 8 April to take part in the RAF's second attack on Duisburg during the opening stages of Bomber Command's "Battle of the Ruhr" - the attempt to destroy Germany's industrial heartland. The raid consisted of 392 aircraft (156 Lancasters, 97 Wellingtons, 73 Halifaxes, 56 Stirlings and 10 Mosquito pathfinders), but had little success.
Of those dispatched, 19 aircraft (seven Wellingtons, six Lancasters, three Halifaxs and three Stirlings) were lost. Thick cloud made it difficult for the Mosquito pathfinders to mark the target and the bombing was therefore very scattered. At least 15 towns in the Ruhr Valley other than Duisburg were hit. Later in the year, when RAF bombing and self-defence aids were greatly improved, it would be a different story for Duisberg and its neigbouring towns.
'AA:L' and her crew of seven survived the raid and were almost back home to their base at Newmarket Heath. They had made radio contact with the Squadron reporting their progress home and all seemed well. Nothing more was heard from AA:L, but then while overflying Diss, just 30 miles from home, the aircraft went out of control and entered a near-vertical dive, crashing at Valley Farm, Bressingham, 3 miles WNW of Diss. The cause of the loss of control of the aircraft is still unknown.
Probably due to the near vertical decent of the aircraft, no crew members escaped the aircraft and all seven crew were lost with 'AA:L'. An oak tree now stands at the site of the crash as a permanent memorial to the crew who were:
The visit was coordinated by Eric Burroughs of Bressingham who as a young man witnessed the crash, seeing AA:L pass his bedroom window before crashing into the incline at Valley Farm as the pilot struggled to land the plane. Also attending the service was Kenneth Gray of Sprowston who 64 year previously had been the duty Flight Path Officer and had spoken with AA:L as she reported her homeward progress.
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