Brackley and the War in the Skies
Brackley and the War in the Skies by Cllr. Bernie Tiller Brackley may appear today to be a quiet market town, but during the Second World War it stood at the center of one of Britain’s busiest flying training areas. Surrounded by airfields such as RAF Turweston, Croughton and Hinton-in-the-Hedges, the skies above the town were constantly filled with aircraft as young crews trained to fly Wellington bombers. One night in March 1944, that danger came directly to Brackley. A Wellington bomber lifted from RAF Turweston on a routine training flight. Minutes later, something went wrong. At low altitude, after a practice approach, the aircraft lost lift and came down in flames on ground that is now the busy roundabout linking Wellington Road, the Medical Centre and Sainsbury’s. Six members of the crew lost their lives. One survived. It was not an isolated event. Hundreds of sim...
