RAF Balderton and RAF Swinderby remembered with new memorial

A new memorial at RAF Balderton will be unveiled on Saturday at 11am.

Pete Stevens, of RAF Balderton Research Group, has asked for members of the public to attend the unveiling.

He said: “It’s dedicated to all units and personal who served at RAF Balderton.

“It will be a great addition because 90% of the airfield has been mined. It is nearly completely gone.

“It will keep the memories alive for many people.”

The airfield was operational from June 1941 to April 1945.

Meet at the B6326 (Great North Road), just south of Shire Lane, NG24 3JW.

There will be a picture display, as well as coffee and cakes at St Giles’ Church, on Main Street, Balderton, after the unveiling.

The unveiling is a result of planning and co-operation with the Airfields of Britain Conservation Trust (ABCT), the world’s first national airfield charity, and is one of two memorials unveiled at the weekend. The second is at RAF Swinderby.

Initially home to Polish and then Australian bomber elements, Swinderby subsequently was a major bomber advanced training base before accommodating flying schools in peacetime.

From the 1960s until closure three decades later Swinderby became perhaps best known for all RAF recruit training.

Both memorials are of a standardised design widely utilised by ABCT.

ABCT’s objective is to commemorate each known disused airfield site in Britain. More than 100 have been unveiled already, rising to more than 200 by the end of 2019.

The Swinderby unveiling is 11am Sunday by Witham St Hughs Village Hall, Caraway Drive (LN6 9XG).