Issue 38 Summer web 23 - Flipbook - Page 4
the Airmen of
Highclere Castle
Highclere Castle is the setting for the blockbuster TV
series Downton Abbey, but the English Stately Home of
the 8th Earl and Countess of Carnarvon has had its own
fair share of real-life drama as during World War Two, its
grounds were the scene of several plane crashes, including
one from which a single airman would miraculously
survive.
non-operational flight to the airbase at nearby Greenham
Common. In bad weather and poor visibility, the aircraft
circled around Highclere Castle before flying off south, a
course that proved fatal as the bomber clipped some trees
on a large hill and crashed down in the grounds of the
stately home.
A memorial to the crew of the eight aircraft who came to
rest at Highclere Castle during WW2 was unveiled in
2018 and features wreckage from one of the B17 aircraft.
Join Lady Carnarvon for a very special evening at the
Army Flying Museum in Middle Wallop, Hampshire on
the evening of 3 April as she shares the stories of the air
accidents and the men who lost their lives in the grounds
of the estate. Lady Carnarvon said “During research into
the second World War, I discovered that eight planes had
come down over the estate. The pilots, navigators and
airmen who died were all somebody’s son, part of someone’s family and a life not lived, with most of them young
Americans in their early twenties.”
The 5th Earl of Carnarvon’s life, wealth and sudden death
became front-page news throughout the world following
his discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun with Howard
Carter and this special event in the stunning surroundings
of the Army Flying Museum will also chart the twists of
luck and tragedies that shaped Carnarvon’s life and his
restless and enquiring mind that drove him to travel to
escape conventional society life in Edwardian Britain.
Fragments from many of the aircraft have been found
across the estate, including those from the B-17 Flying
Fortress named Fort Worth Jailhouse which was on a short
Lady Carnarvon will also be signing copies of her new
book, The Earl and the Pharaoh at the event.
For more information or to book,
visit www.armyflying.com
Conservation & Heritage Journal
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