US Airforce families visit St Andrew's Church, Quidenham

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Families of US airmen visited St Andrew's Church, Quidenham, to see the memorial window dedicated to servicemen in the US Airforce during the Second World War.

The memorial window is the oldest 8th Air Force memorial in Britain.

The 96th Bomb Group suffered the second highest loss rate of the 8th Army Air Force and the highest in the Third Division.

Altogether the 96th flew 321 missions, lost 190 aircraft and 938 airmen.

The chapel was dedicated in November 1944 with the sanctuary lamp being donated by a former officer.  An old Nissen hut, formerly the mortuary for the base, is now a museum and study centre run by volunteers in the grounds of Aurora Eccles School.

The most recent group of visitors included John ‘Lucky’ Luckadoo, aged 101, who was a pilot with the US Eight Airforce during the Second World War and was stationed in Norfolk, making twenty-five successful sorties.