Wrekin-News-193

BROKEN DENTURE? - FOR REPAIRS IN TELFORD, YOU’LL NEED OUR NUMBER - 01952 2535226-10 HAYGATE ROAD, WELLINGTON, TF1 1QA AND 6B HIGH STREET, ALBRIGHTON WV7 3JU · VISIT OUR WEBSITE: WWW.FIXURDENT.CO.UKDENTURE REPAIRS“While you wait”ONE HOURSERVICE‘NEW!! SpecialisedElite Orthodontics SPECIALIST DENTAL LABORATORYand Highly Effective DentureCleaning System from £25.00 -“We recommend PERSONALISED COPY DENTURESRed Wine, Food Staining, Coffee,regular visits to yourNicotine and Tartar Build Up...- A real alternative... Hand finished by:Removed in minutes!’dentist...”Simon Whitehouse RDTA sad war time taleTHE SAD wartime talehappened on January26 1943 whenan RAF WellingtonBomber was on a night flyingtraining exercise. Theaircraft which was carryinga crew of five airmen was flyingabove Llansilin when oneof its engines caught fire.The valley it was flyingover is a very peaceful rurallocation with very little housing,mainly farmland.While this disaster wasunfolding in the night skiesMr Williams was returningto his farm in the valley afterdoing his evening’s duty inthe Home Guard. His housewas called Bwich-y-Rhiw,nestling right below theWellington Bomber’s fatefulflightpath.By the time the Wellingtonwas in difficulty, EdwinWilliams and his wife AnnieJane, had just retired to bedand their children Dan andhis sister together with aland girl Nancy were alsoasleep.Up in the sky one of theaircraft’s engines brokeaway from the wing and hurtledto earth landing directlyon the farm. The force ofthe blazing engine struck directlyon Edwin and Annie’sbedroom propelling themboth through the house intothe cellar. They both diedinstantly.Dan managed to rescuehis sister and the Land Armygirl. He sustained a deep cutto his arm but managed getboth girls to safety. He laterreceived a commendationfor his bravery.The stricken aircraft wenton to crash into a hill immediatelybehind the farmhouse. All five airmen werekilled but sadly only twobodies were found at thecrash site, so severe hadbeen the fire.A few miles away fromthe crash site, a soldier was18 / www.wrekinnews.co.ukLes Beamond from Wellingtonbrought in a very interesting storyabout World War II and a tragedythat happened not too far fromhere.Les relates to an incident thathappened in 1943 and he followedthe story through to its conclusionin 1993. Les takes up the story.> Sergeant Ottley’s name freshly etched in to the WarMemorialreturning home for a shortspell of leave. He had justgot off the train at Gobowenrailway station when he sawa huge flash of light from thedirection of Llansilin.The soldier’s name wasBill Wren and he was tolearn the next morning of thetragedy that unfolded on hisdoorstep.Fifty years on from thetragedy and Les Beamondand his wife were drivingnear the village of Llansilinwhen they saw a gatheringof people. Les stopped andwas told the people hadgathered to commemoratethe fateful night fifty yearsago when seven people died(five in the aircraft togetherwith Mr and Mrs Williams).Among the crowd ofmourners was the OswestryTown Mayor, a certain Bill> Councillor Bill Wren (left), Nancy Povey (the Land Girl survivor) and William Richards, allstand under the plaque at Bwich-y-Rhiw farm in Llansilin.Wren. He related the storyto Les of the night he sawan explosion on the hill nearLlansilin.The townspeople hadraised money to have aplaque put on the side ofthe now rebuilt farmhousewhere the tragedy had happened.The plaque had allseven names engraved onit. There was some surplusmoney which was donatedto the Royal Air Force BenevolentFund.Air Vice Marshall F C HurdleRAFBF, wrote back to Billthanking him for the donationand relating a final twistin the dramatic tale. Onlythat morning a man was inhis office asking for informationon an old school friendof his who was the pilot ofa Wellington Bomber whichcrashed near Oswestry killingall on board. The airministry had told him theycould only confirm that hispal was: ‘Missing, no knowngrave.’With the incident happeningover fifty years ago, thechances were very slim thatanything could be done toconfirm details of his death.The man was concernedthat his pal’s name was notentered on the war memorialin his home town of StAlbans in Hertfordshire.The Air Vice Marshall wasnot able to help the manwith enquiry but no soonerhad he left the office whenthe Air Vice Marshall pickedup Bill Wren’s letter from hisin-tray with the informationabout the 1943 crash andthe crew members names.It was an extraordinaryco-incidence and quicklythe Air Vice Marshall calledthe man back into his room.The man had been trying tolocate his friend SergeantG. G. Ottley and one of thenames on the plaque in Llansilinwas Sergeant G. G.Ottley!Sergeant Ottley’s friendhas duly had the dead airman’sname entered on theSt Albans War Memorial aftermore than fifty years of itbeing missing.Sergeant Ottley, his fourcrew members and Mr andMrs Williams are all nowrecognised after that fatefulnight in 1943. Bill Wren,the Oswestry Town Mayorhas since died but he wasgrateful for being able toplay a part in recognisingthe tragic incident and identifyingthe seven dead. Thisin some small way led toSergeant Ottley’s name findingits name on to the StAlbans War Memorial overfifty years after the rest!> Continued on page 20