Carrying on from my last post where I promised more information on some of the photos I'd taken.
Freddie Gilroy (1921-2008) was born in County Durham to a mining family. He went to work at the local mine but also joined the Territorial Army. In 1939 at the start of war he was called up to be a gun aimer for the Royal Artillery. Towards the end of the war he became a Regimental Police Officer. On the 15th April 1945 he was part of the force sent to Hamburg to liberate Bergen Belsen. The horrors of what he experienced stayed with him for the rest of his life. He spent his 24th birthday within the camp and when interviewed by a local newspaper in the 1980s he confessed that he had cried on every birthday since then.
That's Scarborough Castle in the background, shrouded in the morning mist.
In the Canadian Memorial hanger at the Yorkshire Air Museum at Elvington is the Halifax Bomber called Friday 13th.
We watched a small film in the on site cinema about how it came to be named. Bomber Command 158 Squadron flew Halifax bombers from nearby RAF Lissett each plane having it's own unique call sign. By 1944 all Halifax Bombers given the F for Freddy designation had been lost so when the new one arrived it was deemed to be unlucky. On it's first mission in March 1944 bomber LV907 F broke that run of bad luck. That night 95 aircraft were lost but LV907 returned. The Canadian crew decided to call it Friday 13th to 'jinx' it even more, they painted many images of bad luck onto the plane and embraced the F for Freddy superstition. LV907 Friday 13th went on to return safely from 128 more missions before the end of the war. This particular Halifax was held in great affection by its crews and of course they all wanted to fly on missions in this aircraft.
Well done to Maureen Robinson for saving the well deserved sculpture of Freddie Gilroy, Ray Lonsdale's work is so impressive and placed in the most thought provoking places. I remember now where I saw one - Fiddlers Green in North Shields. Thank goodness everyone was kept safe in the plane. 😊
ReplyDeleteGlad you remember where you saw one of Ray Lonsdale's sculptures. I'd like to see the one of Emily Davidson. I've seen four of his works. One at Gretna Green a few years ago:)
DeleteA poignant story behind the first sculpture and I am so glad Maureen Robinson bought it so it could stay. A lovely gesture. A fascinating story behind the plane - you certainly some some interesting things when you were away.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad the sculpture was kept by the town - you can see it quite a way down the North shore from the way we walked. We did see some super things in the short time we were there:)
DeleteThat sculpture never fails to move me. I was in Scarborough today and was watching a kestrel hover over the cliff above it. My daughter suggested that we should see if we could dedicate a bench to my parents in Peasholme Park as it was somewhere they loved. She has already contacted the council to see how much it would cost.
ReplyDeleteThank you for leaving a comment. It is a very moving sculpture especially when you learn the story behind it. A dedicated bench would be lovely, I hope it is possible to have one in the park:)
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