Fulstow Lancaster Memorial
On the night of 23/24 December 1943, with the Battle of Berlin underway, two Avro Lancaster IIIs, ND327 HW- and ED730 BQ-G2 of No. 550 Squadron (the former loaned from No. 100 Squadron) based at RAF Waltham, took off as part of a force of 379 aircraft to participate in an operation to the capital city. At 00.40 hours, while at 12,000 feet and over the village of Fulstow near Louth, Lincolnshire, the two aircraft collided, resulting in an explosion. The wreckage came to earth in a four-square-mile area; there were no survivors from the fourteen crew, whose ages ranged from nineteen to thirty-one years. Eight decades have passed since the tragedy, and to commemorate the loss, a new memorial was unveiled on 24 December 2023, close to Fulstow Bridge, the approximate site of the collision.
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Roll of Honour
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ND327
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ED730
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It was rather poignant on the day of our visit, a Kestrel was observed close to the memorial keeping watch.
