The Hoveringham Lancasters

In the winter of 1945, two Avro Lancaster III heavy bombers crashed in Nottinghamshire. The two events occurred a little over two weeks apart, on the same stretch of open land at Hoveringham, just north of the River Trent. Both aircraft were from the No.5 Lancaster Finishing School based at nearby RAF Syerston, where they had just completed night training missions. Both crews — fourteen airmen with an average age of 23 — were lost.

The first plane to come down was JB125, with pilot officer G...