La Chapelle Thecle Memorial

On the night of 24/25^th April 1944 Lancaster LM359 of 61 Squadron took of from RAF Skellingthorpe on an operation to Munich. 

The aircraft came down on a farm near La Chappelle Thecle, near Louhan, France.

The crew were:                     

Pilot                Pilot Officer C W J Newman.

Flt Engineer   Sergeant R C H Jones.

Navigator       Sergeant R A Taylor            

Air Gunner    Flying Officer E R Alston

Bomb Aimer  Flight Sergeant EJ Outram.

Air Gunner    Sergeant R C Gardner.

W/Operator   Sergeant C Ratner

The wireless operator, Sgt. C Ratner was the only survivor.

In 1949 the Village of La Chappelle Thecle erected a Memorial on the site of the crash in Memory of the lost crew. In recent years the widow of Sgt. R C H Jones, Betty Bascombe has visited the village and a memorial service is held every year by the locals.