Memorial to last German aircraft to crash on British soil in Second World War to be rededicated

The Junkers JU88 night fighter was attacking Allied bombers at their most vulnerable point as they returned to their base at RAF Elvington near York in the early hours of March 4, 1945 when it crashed.

Three members of a family at Dunnington Lodge farmhouse, together with the crew of the aircraft, died.

The intruder was the last German aircraft to crash on British soil and nearly 50 years later a memorial was unveiled as a symbol of friendship and reconciliation between air crews on both sides of the conflict.

Veterans and senior air force staff from the UK and Germany will attend a rededication ceremony being held on Saturday to mark a move of the memorial from the roadside to a more fitting location nearby.

The ceremony has been organised by the Flightpath of Friendship Reconciliation group which became custodians of the memorial unveiled in 1993 by 158 Squadron veteran Air Gunner Arthur Tate, whose Halifax bomber was attacked by the JU88, and Herbert Thomas, of the German Night Fighter Pilots Association.

Thousands of people are expected to see the memorial each year at its new location near the exit to York Maze.

The rededication ceremony will include acts of remembrance, a pipe and drum march past and wreath laying. A fly past of aircraft may also take place following arrangements with the German Embassy.

The JU88 had already claimed two Halifax bombers from 158 Squadron returning to RAF Lissett, near Bridlington, when its crew turned their attention to a bomber returning to RAF Elvington which narrowly escaped.

The night fighter continued its attack intent on strafing the airfield but crashed into the farmhouse.

Farmer Richard Moll, his wife Helen and their daughter-in-law Violet died of their injuries. Mr Moll’s son Fred survived and escaped after scooping his three-year-old son Edgar from the badly damaged building.

RAF Elvington is now the site of the Yorkshire Air Museum. York Maze has been located on Dunnington Lodge farm since 2009.