Hudswell memorial dedication, 13 August 2011

**REF** · 17-08-2011, 10:52

Information received from David Thompson, and taken from the Northern Echo:
http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/new..._commemorated/

A PLAQUE commemorating the 60th anniversary of an air disaster in which eight people died will be unveiled this weekend.

Seven airmen and an air cadet died when a Wellington bomber and Martinet training aircraft collided over Hudswell, near Richmond, North Yorkshire, on August 13, 1951.

The plaque will be dedicated in the village’s Jubilee Garden at noon on Saturday.

Air cadet Derek Coates was the only survivor of the crash. Flight Lieutenant John Quinton was given a posthumous George Cross for strapping the young cadet into the only accessible parachute, ensuring his survival.

Witnesses saw parts of both planes rain down on the village, but fortunately, no one on the ground was hurt.

Among those killed were cadet Corporal Malcolm Bruton, from Middlesbrough.

The planes had taken off from RAF Leeming, North Yorkshire, on a training exercise and collided in low cloud.

Soliders from nearby Catterick stood guard over the wrecked aircraft, which crashed in fields.

At the time, witness Fred Carr told The Northern Echo: “We heard a thud and within seconds there were splinters and all kinds falling from the clouds.

“The starboard engine, which was torn from the plane, missed our house by yards. We were sure we were for it.”

John Ward, of Richmond, who helped organise the plaque with friends, said: “There has been no memorial of this disaster and no record of the bravery of one man and the miraculous survival of one air cadet.”

As well as Cpl Bruton and Flight Lieutenant Quinton GC, the other victims were Pilot Officer Frank Leslie Farrell, Pilot Officer Edwin George Garrett; Flt Lt Alexander Hannay; Flying Officer Peter Keeling; Flying Officer Dawyck Veitch and Flying Officer George Trotman.

Members of the public are welcome to the unveiling, which will be attended by representatives from RAF Leeming and the Middlesbrough Air Training Corps, as well as people who saw the crash.

A letter will be read from Mr Coates, who now lives in Australia, before John Quinton’s son, Roger, unveils the plaque.

Those attending are urged to arrive early, as air cadets will march from the village hall to Jubilee Garden at noon.

**REF** · 17-08-2011, 10:53

Second link also from David Thompson
http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/new...emembers_dead/

THE lifelong gratitude of a man who owes his life to the courage of others was made clear at a moving ceremony of dedication at the weekend.

Teenage air cadet Derek Coates was the only survivor when a Wellington bomber and a Martinet training aircraft collided over Hudswell, near Richmond on August 13, 1951.

He was clipped into the only available parachute by Wellington pilot John Quinton and helped out of the aircraft. He reached the ground safely and suffered just a few cuts to his face.

The eight other airmen involved died, including Flight Lieutenant Quinton - who was awarded posthumous George Cross, the peacetime equivalent of the Victoria Cross, for his bravery.

On Saturday the eight dead were remembered when a plaque to their memory was unveiled in Hudswell’s Jubilee Garden by Roger Quinton, John’s son.

And from his home in Western Australia, survivor Derek Coates, now 75 and not well enough to travel, expressed his continuing gratitude to the man that saved him.

“I owe him my life. What more can I say?” he wrote in a letter that was read out to the 250 attending the unveiling.

“There is hardly a week that goes by without I think of him. To me words are never enough.

“I could go on for evermore thanking him for what he has given me.”

The unveiling began with a parade of air cadets from Middlesbrough and Richmond and during the ceremony a trumpeter sounded the Last Post.

Standards were raised and lowered on behalf of the British Legion, the RAF and the Air Cadets and all went quiet as a minute's silence was observed.

One of the organisers of the event, John Ward, was just 12 at the time of the disaster.

“Because I was local, I was very taken by this story of bravery and miraculous survival and I wanted to do something about it so I assembled some friends and acquaintances and we proceeded to the point we are at now,” he said.

“This will be a permanent record of an event that mattered deeply to our village.

“Although witnesses saw pieces of the wrecked planes rain down on the village no one was injured. It was a miraculous escape.”

As well as Flt Lt Quinton, the others who died 60 years ago included Cadet Corporal Malcolm Bruton from Middlesbrough, Pilot Officer Frank Leslie Farrell; PO Edwin George Percival Garrett; Flt Lt Alexander Hannay; Flying Officer Peter Frederick Keeling; FO Dawyck (CORR) George McLeod Veitch

**paf1950** · 18-08-2011, 00:49

Attended in person, excellent turnout from the villagers. A small display of memorobilia and press clippings from 1951 is currently on show in the village pub the George and Dragon.

The pub is privately owned by the villagers, with them being shareholders in the company that owns it.