Support given for memorial
Town councillors last night supported an offer to finally commemorate the Ransome and Marles second world war bombing with a public memorial.
Forty-one people were killed when the firm's Newark bearings factory was attacked by a German bombing raid on March 7, 1941.
There is no publicly accessible memorial in the town to the victims, but that will soon be put right following an offer by NSK Europe - the successors of Ransome and Marles - to provide one.
Members of Newark Town Council's environment and leisure committee have agreed to support NSK's offer.
The memorial, which will take the form of a large chrome-plated bearing, could be installed at Newark Parish Church.
It will be mounted on top of a wooden box which will have the names of the 41 people who were killed embossed on it, along with a plate describing its purpose.
A ceremony will be organised for the installation of the memorial.
The Rector of Newark, the Rev Vivian Enever, said he was happy to have the memorial in the church as a temporary display for Remembrance Sunday in November, should it be ready in time.
He said permission for a permanent display would have to be given by the church council following advice from the diocese.
The town clerk, Mr Alan Mellor, will now make a formal request to the church. He will also organise a ceremony for the installation of the memorial.
A tree and commemorative plaque in the NSK factory grounds is the only tribute to the victims in the town. It can only be visited by appointment and does not list the victims by name.
An NSK spokesman said: "NSK is pleased to have been given the opportunity by Newark Town Council to work with it to commemorate the loss of 41 workers in the Newark bearings factory in March 1941.
"It hopes it can assist by providing an appropriate memorial, and looks forward to implementing ideas when the council has decided upon a course of action to sustain the memory of those who lost their lives in an essential industry for an industrial society."
The new memorial represents the type of product which was being produced during the second world war and is still manufactured by the company today.
Ransome and Marles Bearing Company was a major supplier of components to the Armed Forces during the war and was targeted by the Nazis.
At 1.55pm on March 7, 1941, an alert was sounded at the works and soon after an enemy plane approached, firing on it from several points.
Four bombs were dropped as it passed over. A fifth bomb was dropped as the plane returned but failed to explode.
As casualties were being removed, a plane again approached from the south and dropped five bombs, only one of
which exploded causing further casualties and extensive damage.
Workers also came under machine-gun fire as they tried to leave.
