On Saturday October 3, the Jubilee Fields Community Centre had a visit from Les Featherstone from New Zealand who is 93 years old and was only 9 years old when the Short Stirling III bomber crashed between Eldon and Shildon in 1944. He still remembers that day vividly. Les and three of his school friends were playing in the field behind the farmhouse when they heard the plane’s engines in the distance, misfiring and roaring before they saw it come out of the cloud and descend rapidly over the four lane ends, and they knew then, that it was about to crash, so they ran.
Les may be the only surviving eye witness now, and would have very much liked to have been present at the unveiling of the Stirling Memorial Plaque last July, which is situated in the Jubilee Centre in Shildon, but whilst touring England on holiday over the past two weeks, he came to see the plaque, and is pictured here with Alan Ellwood who spent 8 years researching the crash and raising the money to have the plaque made.
The centre would like to express their gratitude to Caroline Dunn, who kindly opened the centre on Saturday to allow these photographs to be taken.
Shildon & District's local community newspaper.
