Darlington and Stockport Times and the Northern Echo report the Commemoration ceremony at Atley Hill, South Cowton, North Yorkshire

The story of the commemoration of the air crash and death of the crew written by Mark Foster was printed in the on 30 August 2016

A FORGOTTEN tragedy of war has finally been remembered at a simple but moving ceremony by the edge of a North Yorkshire field.

At the very spot where a Halifax bomber ploughed into the ground, killing all six of its young crew, a plaque has been installed to mark the scene of their sacrifice.

It was the culmination of four years of work by 66-year-old Ray Harris, a retired social worker from near Edinburgh who is now studying for a degree in art.

His uncle was Sergeant Raymond Albert Harris, a newly-promoted 19-year-old flight engineer, who was among those who died when the aircraft crashed on October 22, 1943, at about 1.30am.

The Halifax, Eb 199 ZU-H, had earlier taken off from Croft near Darlington on a routine training patrol, but its outside port engine cut out and the bomber, with its inexperienced crew, spiralled to the ground out of control.

It hit a tree and a hedgerow by the edge of a field at Atley Hill, South Cowton, between Scotch Corner and Northallerton. Four of those on board died in the impact, the two others shortly afterwards.

Ray was named after his uncle and after inheriting treasured letters that his relative wrote before his death, decided to look more closely into Sgt Harris’ life.

The airman was one of four brothers and his family moved to Barnoldswick in Lancashire following the blitz on their original home city of Coventry.

A bright boy at school who had been first in his class, he joined the RAF as an 18-year-old recruit in December 1942 and kept in constant touch with his family through a stream of letters.

Using those wartime letters Ray launched an online blog and during his subsequent investigations was able to pinpoint the exact site of the crash.

He even found the hedgerow into which the Halifax crashed was a living reminder - as it is still much lower than those around it.

And the farmer who now tends the land was able bring the reality of the crash into sharp focus - by providing him with some wreckage from the aircraft which has emerged from the ground over the years.

“This has been quite a journey for me,” said Ray.

“My grandmother mourned for Raymond for the rest of her life. I was named after him and I’d always known the basics of his story.

“But now I feel very, very close to it all. I think I know my Uncle Ray much better – and I feel that he and those who died alongside him should be remembered.”

Ray now plans to expand his blog still further, and possibly even write a book. He hopes to hear from others who know something about the tragedy – or had connections to those who died.

He can be contacted via his blog at http://sgtraymondalbertharris.blogspot.co.uk/p/sgt-raymond-albert-harris.html