Wartime aircrash death remembered

An 85-year-old woman whose wartime fiance was killed when his bomber plunged into a Shropshire hillside has ensured that his memory is honoured on the 65th anniversary of the tragedy tomorrow.

Sergeant Jack Brownhill was a 21-year-old wireless operator and air gunner in a Whitley bomber which crashed at Mytton Dingle, Snailbeach, on February 15, 1944, killing all five on board. The aircraft had been towing a glider which cast off and landed safely.

Mrs Constance Hall, from East Oakley, Hampshire, has linked up with Mrs Pat Evans, from the Tankerville Pottery and Gallery in the Stiperstones, to ensure the incident is commemorated.

"She asked if I could put some flowers in the chapel if she sent the money," said Pat, who has also arranged for the tragedy to be referred to during local church services.

"It will be mentioned in the sermon in the service at Snailbeach Methodist Church at 2.45pm, and there's going to be a remembrance for all the men who died at Minsterley Parish Church on Sunday morning. I'm getting flowers to put in each church. It's almost like a closure to it all. I don't think anything was ever done at the time."

Mrs Hall, who back then was Miss Constance Edmondson, said: "I had actually got engaged to him two weeks earlier, but we had been together for a little while beforehand. We were madly in love and became engaged after a romantic leave of four days."

Sergeant Brownhill is buried at Twickenham, Middlesex, near his home of Whitton.