Ceremony in Rustington marks anniversary of the village’s only wartime air crash

A private ceremony has been held at the Chaucery Memorial in Rustington to mark the 76th anniversary of the village’s only wartime air crash.
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An annual wreath-laying ceremony has been held in Chaucer Avenue, Rustington, every year since 2010 on February 17, the date of the plane crash that killed three civilians, plus the pilot and navigator.

Last year, there was a large gathering for the 75th anniversary but this year, due to current restrictions, there was a private ceremony where Bill Kelsey, chairman of the Chaucery Memorial committee, laid a wreath.

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The memorial and garden of remembrance were organised by residents with support from Rustington Parish Council.

Bill Kelsey, chairman of the Chaucery Memorial committee, laying a wreath to mark the 76th anniversary of the plane crashBill Kelsey, chairman of the Chaucery Memorial committee, laying a wreath to mark the 76th anniversary of the plane crash
Bill Kelsey, chairman of the Chaucery Memorial committee, laying a wreath to mark the 76th anniversary of the plane crash

The RAF Mosquito crash landed into four bungalows on February 17, 1945, killing Chaucer Avenue residents Florence Ward, 50, and Edward Leonard Vincent, 63, Arthur Sydney Foster, 57, a retired police officer who was working in his garden in Milton Close, plus the pilot, 32-year-old Wing Cdr William Hudson Maguire, and navigator Flt Lt Denis Strickland-Lake, 22.

Four bungalows, nos. 46, 48, 50 and 52 Chaucer Avenue, were destroyed or badly damaged.

The plane was on a flight from Ford Airfield to test new equipment and the crew lost control during its third roll.