He had wanted to travel to London for the ANZAC Day parade on the 25th, and Harry said he would take his training flight that night. This was a standard navigational flight to The Wash and back, in Harrys words ‘to help the young men from becoming completely lost when flying at night’.
Harry came from Dunedin, New Zealand, he was 26, he had three sisters who adored him. Back home he was a piper in the local pipe band and entertained family and friends with his magic skills. His favourite being the invisible dog on a lead.
Harry carried out the pre- flight checks on the unarmed Avro Anson trainer. With him that night he had three young airmen, all keen to brush up on their navigational skills. Norman Rixson, 20, from Grays, Essex (known by his family as ‘Danny’ after the song ‘Danny Boy’), Eric Hopkins (also 20) from Newport, Gwent and John McNeil from Glasgow, who was 21.
With the checks done they departed Moreton Valance and headed east. Meanwhile over East Anglia two heavily armed Luftwaffe ME410 Hornet intruders had managed to evade the RAF defences and were awaiting the returning bomber streams. Each one shot down a bomber, one a Lancaster over Diss, the other a Halifax over Welney, it was this aircraft that then turned East to head towards Huntingdon. The cruellest twist of fate saw them encounter Harry's unarmed aircraft, and over the skies of Godmanchester their brief meeting saw the lives of four young airmen snuffed out.
The aircraft was reported missing and on the morning of the 25th wreckage was discovered to the east of Godmanchester.
Just two days later the same German crew were over Church Lawton, Warks, intent on shooting down a group of Oxford Trainers when they were rammed by Flying Officer Gregor Moore of the Royal Canadian Air Force. A sacrifice that saved the lives of many of his fellow airmen.
Last night saw the 75th Anniversary of the passing of these four young men, not men from our town, they do not have family here, they never visited here, but they lost their lives here.
So today I would like us to remember these young men, to acknowledge their bravery and honour their memory. Today I will place a wreath in their memory on behalf of the people of Godmanchester on the War Memorial .
At the going down of the sun and in the morning, we shall remember them.
- Roger Leivers
