Memorial at Bicker, Lincs

[REF]

Can anyone help with the location of this memorial please;
http://www.airforcememorials.co.uk/_sgg/mdm2s4_1.htm

A grid ref would be really great if possible.

Thanks

[David Thompson]

It is at MR 131/TF215368 and was erected by LARG to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the accident and the service was officiated by the Padre from Coningsby .

[REF]

Thanks to David I managed to find this nice little memorial at Bicker.

http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb198/Flyer719/LINCOLNSHIRE/Bicker/DSC_0096-1-1.jpg

[DonB]

Although by no means unique, it is a sobering thought that the crew are still out there in the fields...

To think of the times I have travelled up & down the nearby A52 and not realised just how close I was to the site!

Don

[REF]

Thanks to David Thompson for forwarding this link to me.

http://www.bostonstandard.co.uk/news/Family-visit-war-memorial-for.5664640.jp


Family visit war memorial for first time

Published Date: 21 September 2009
By David Seymour

Tuesday, 11am - A WAR widow and three generations of her family have visited a memorial to her late husband and his fellow crew members near Bicker for the first time.

Flt Sgt Joseph Bernard Bannan, of the Royal Air Force Voluntary Reserve, was one of seven servicemen who died when their Lancaster crashed near the village on a training flight in April 1944. He was 24 at the time.

Sixty-five years on, his 90-year-old widow Kathleen Farley, her daughter, as well as her grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, have visited a memorial to the crew, just weeks after learning it existed.

The family found details of the memorial, built by the volunteers at the Lincolnshire Aircraft Recovery Group in 2004, while researching Flt Sgt Bannan's flying history on the internet.

Dave Stubley, 54, secretary of the Lincolnshire Aircraft Recovery Group, recalls the moment he found a message from one of the family members.

"I couldn't believe it," he said. "I was in shock. At the time of the dedication, we tried to find family members but no one came forward."

Before this discovery, it is unlikely the family knew where or how Flt Sgt Bannan died; he did not have a funeral, he does not have a grave, and the only other known commemoration of his wartime efforts is on the Runnymade Memorial, in Surrey.

"They were so taken back by the memorial they invited all the family to come and look at it," said Mr Stubley.

The party came mostly from Merseyside, but also Norfolk. Each of them laid a rose on the memorial in tribute to Flt Sgt Bannan, who before the crash had completed 30 bombing operations abroad.

The children also placed stories on the memorial, and one child placed a model Lancaster he had built out of Lego bricks. In addition, the children also took home pieces of the aircraft from what is now a potato field.

Following their visit, Mr Stubley said he could sense a certain kind of contentment among the family members.

"I think it was like closure for them, like after a funeral – they now knew where he was," he said.

As a result of the family's visit, the Lincolnshire Aircraft Recovery Group now also has a photograph of Flt Sgt Bannan, which will go on display at the East Kirkby Aviation Heritage Centre.

Several members of the family also plan to return to the village in November for a Remembrance Day service.

The full article contains 420 words and appears in Boston Standard newspaper.

[REF]

I visited the memorial agin in May this year, here are some photos
http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb198/Flyer719/LINCOLNSHIRE/Bicker/20110520Bicker1-1.jpg

http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb198/Flyer719/LINCOLNSHIRE/Bicker/20110520Bicker4-1.jpg

http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb198/Flyer719/LINCOLNSHIRE/Bicker/20110520Bicker6-1.jpg

http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb198/Flyer719/LINCOLNSHIRE/Bicker/20110520Bicker7-1.jpg

There are now signs to the memorial which were not there on my previous visit
http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb198/Flyer719/LINCOLNSHIRE/Bicker/20110520Bicker13-1.jpg

[REF]

Some more information from David Thompson.


The memorial to the crew of Lancaster ND820 is being re-dedicated this Saturday, 12 November at 1100. Local dignitaries will be attending and a buffet will be provided in the old school hall. All welcome!

Are there any AiX / ARG Members local to this who will be able to make it?