War Memorial #1935 - Wellington Z8863 Multi-cache

On 24 November 1941 a Vickers Wellington bomber (Z8863) of No 115 Squadron from RAF Marham crashed approximately two miles outside March in Cambridgeshire with the loss of the entire crew. The crash site sits within a nature reserve owned by the Ministry of Justice as part of the HMP Whitemoor estate. The history of the site was bought to the prison’s attention by Andrew Wood, a worker with Government Facility Services Limited (GFSL). Together with Senior Site Manager Mark Twiddy, the team from GFSL designed and built a special memorial to the crew of Z8863. Using reclaimed and unused materials.Yesterday a service was held to mark the opening of the memorial. At the time of the crash, the No 115 Squadron Wellington was headed to its home base at RAF Marham. The crew was comprised entirely of non-commissioned officers, the oldest of which was only 29 years of age. The pilot, Sergeant George Bruce, and the co-pilot, Sergeant Percival Taylor, were aged just 20 and 19 years respectively. No 115 Squadron was fist formed in 1917 and saw action in both world wars, operating from RAF Marham in the second world war. Wednesday morning’s grey skies suited the tone of the occasion as a party from RAF Wittering joined townsfolk, prison staff and local figures to mark the eightieth anniversary of the crash. A delegation from 115 Squadron attended and the service was taken by RAF Wittering Chaplain, Reverend Squadron Leader Andrew Tucker. Contributions to the service were made by Reverend Andrew Smith of St Peter’s Church (March), Father Jacob Cheriyan (Roman Catholic Chaplain at HMP Whitemoor) and words of thanks were given by a Martyn Phillips, a relative of crewmember Sgt Henry O’Shea. The last post was played by Prison Officer Terry Knight. Squadron Leader Rich Kellett is Officer Commanding No 115 Squadron. He said: “I can’t help but be impressed by how Andrew, Mark and the team at Whitemoor Prison have embraced this project and created a beautiful memorial to the crew of Z8863. The people of March have turned out in good numbers to remember the sacrifices made in World War II, and it was especially fitting that members of the family made their own contributions to the service. It was an honour to represent my squadron and the RAF.” Wing Commander Jez Case is the Station Commander at RAF Wittering. 

By Stephen Briggs,Published 19th Aug 2021, Peterborough Telegraph.

One of the information boards near the Memoral gives some information on a large bird that can be seen on the water.

It has a 'Massive Wingspan of 1AB-1CDcm (EF-GHin)

The Cache can be found at N52 3B.(G-H)CD E000 0(B-F).AG(C-E)      Checksum = 48