Bristol tribute to fallen heroes

Hearts filled with pride and tears were shed at a ceremony to remember three airmen who died in a Bristol wartime tragedy and those whose bravery saved three others.

A Wellington bomber on a training mission crashed in St Andrew's Park on the night of April 30, 1941, after hitting a barrage balloon cable over Fishponds.

In total darkness the pilot aimed for the park, missing all of the houses.

Three of the six men on board the bomb-laden plane were killed but thanks to the courage of local people, who risked their own lives, the others were pulled to safety.

Nothing was reported of the crash at the time for the sake of morale.

But now a memorial, carved out of Welsh slate, has been unveiled in the park to honour the servicemen and the actions of the rescuers.

The ceremony, organised by the Friends of St Andrew's Park, brought together relatives of the crew and the families of those who rushed to help when they saw the burning wreckage.

A letter from the pilot of the stricken aircraft, Flight Sergeant Lawrence "Hugh" Houghton, was read out by John Clarke, whose grandfather was one of the three who died.

Mr Houghton, 89, was too frail to attend but in his letter, spoke of the bravery of those who saved him. It read: "This crash has been a source of great sadness all my life and will continue to be so. As the pilot in charge of the aircraft, I offer to the loved ones and friends of the three fine young men who perished, and of those who were injured on that dreadful April night in 1941, my unqualified apology for having caused them this deep grief."

But Mr Clarke, 47, who has been researching the incident for the past eight years since making an appeal in the Evening Post, said the crash was an accident that happened in difficult times and no one was to blame.

Mr Clarke travelled from his home in Sheffield for the event and was overcome with emotion when he said: "I can't say just how much this means to me. This all started when I began to research my family history and my father produced a letter from the RAF that explained the story of the flight."

His grandfather, Sergeant Charles Clarke, was a front gunner and died alongside Pilot Officer Kenneth Evans and Sergeant Thomas Lever. The other survivors were Sergeant John Stuart Jones and Sergeant Richard Wish.

Mr Clarke has since been in contact with many people whose relatives were involved in the crash but appealed for more to get in touch with him.

Among those he met at the ceremony was Karen Reilley, 62, who flew from the United States especially for the event to receive a posthumous bravery award for her policeman father, Bruce Westlake.

PC Westlake, of Effingham Road, was 19 at the time of the crash and rushed into the burning plane to help rescue Sgt Jones, who was the rear gunner.

Although a request was made at the time for him to be honoured, it was not acted upon while the war continued.

But Avon and Somerset's Assistant Chief Constable, John Long, said the time had come to put that right and presented Mrs Reilley with a certificate in recognition of her father's outstanding police service.

Mrs Reilley, who moved to Adelaide in Australia with her husband, Michael, nearly a year ago, said: "I didn't know my father because he died as a result of a road accident two days before I was born, although my grandfather told me about the plane crash.

"We were on holiday in Washington DC when I heard there had been a piece in the Evening Post about my father and the memorial so we flew over. I've waited all my life for this and think it's wonderful that all this work has been done to get this memorial in place."

Also at the unveiling was Patricia Seymour, 67, of Little Stoke, whose father Fred Spray was an air raid patrol warden who lived in Leopold Road. He rushed to help and returned bare footed as his slippers had melted into the base of the barrage balloon platform.

Ms Seymour said: "I was nine when the crash happened but I don't remember it because I must have been asleep at the time. My sister, Pepita, was only two but she remembered a loud bang."

Ms Seymour's grand- daughters, Ellie Seymour, nine, and Ruby, seven, of Frampton Cotterell, laid flowers at the memorial, which was unveiled by Air Vice-Marshal Nigel Baldwin. Nine-year-old May Gordon read a poem and the Lord Mayor of Bristol, Chris Davies, planted a peace rose.

Park Friends member David Cemlyn, 67, of Effingham Road, said: "The publicity in the Post has helped bring these people here today. It's been a long road but we've made it."