625 Sqn Lancaster LL965 Memorial Service, Little Grimsby, Monday 14th Oct

A special service will be held next week to mark the 75th anniversary of a Lancaster Bomber crash, which killed to airmen and narrowly missed two villages.

At 6am on October 14, 1944 a crew from the Royal Canadian Air Force, took off from RAF Kelstern, near Binbrook,to take part in a bombing mission to Duisberg in Germany.

Immediately, Q-Queenie, as it was known, became a stricken plane as an engine caught fire, quickly spreading to the wing.

The pilot struggled to gain height to allow most of his crew to parachute to safety and it must have become obvious to him the plane was going to crash and the villages of Fotherby and Little Grimsby were in his flightpath, but with great skill he managed to avoid them.

Flying Officer Lloyd Albert Hannah, the pilot, died when the plane crashed and Flight Sergeant Lloyd Douglas Bennett died when his parachute failed to open.

On October 14, 2019 a service will be held in St Edith’s Church, Little Grimsby, followed by a walk to the crash site, where an act of remembrance will be held, with a flypast by Typhoons planned.

A memorial service has been held to pay tribute to a World War Two pilot who steered his stricken plane away from a Lincolnshire village.

Lloyd Hannah stayed at the controls of his Lancaster bomber after it caught fire soon after take off.

His actions saved the lives of those in Little Grimsby near Louth.

On the 75th anniversary of the crash, villagers and family members of the Canadian pilot laid a wreath at the crash site in a field.

Tony Bywater was a teenager when the crash happened. He said without the actions of Flying Officer Hannah he "probably wouldn't be here today".

"There was a massive explosion which lifted me out of the bed," he said.

"My father had greenhouses and all the glass was shattered. It was shattered all over the place."

Six crew members managed to parachute to safety, leaving Flying Officer Hannah and Flt Sgt Lloyd Douglas Bennet on board.

The aircraft took the roof off a cottage before crashing, leaving a crater which was the site for the wreath-laying ceremony.
Dave Langner, nephew of the pilot, had flown from Canada to take part in the memorial.

He said the ceremony "meant a lot" to his family.

"Lloyd who died here was only 26-years-old," he said.

" a lot of pride and I feel a lot of gratitude for the villagers of Fotherby and Little Grimsby for remembering them after all these years."