On the west side of the junction.

Monument

A memorial cairn bearing a blue plaque commemorating Flying Officer John Archibald Wilding and Sgt John Francis Andrew. Surmounted by a 426 Squadron Thunderbird crest, the message is written in English in raised lettering.

On September 9, 1944, a Halifax bomber of the Royal Canadian Air Force was returning from an abandoned raid over the French port of Le Harve.  While still carrying a full bomb load it caught fire over Wallingford when an outer engine exploded. Ordering most of his crew to bail out, the pilot, Flying Officer John Archibald Wilding, and Flight Engineer Sergeant John Frank Andrew remained at the controls to steer the plane away from the town. They crashed into the fields at Newnham Murren, preventing the loss of many civilian lives. Wilding and Andrew were mentioned in Dispatches for their bravery, with Wilding being posthumously awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.

Every September, the Wallingford Town Council organizes a memorial service at the commemorative cairn. The memorial was built in 1960. The roads of this road junction have been named after the servicemen so that they will always be part of the map of the town. Since 1998, the Canadian Flag has been flown over the Town Hall on the anniversary of their crash.

Flight Officer Wilding was an American from New York flying in the Royal Canadian Air Force.

Source of information: www.wallingfordtowncouncil.gov.uk

ON THE 9TH. SEPTEMBER, 1944,

F/O. J.A. WILDING

AND

SGT. J.F. ANDREW

OF NO.426 SQUADRON,

ROYAL CANADIAN AIR FORCE

BY REMAINING AT THE CONTROLS

OF THEIR DAMAGED AND BOMB LADEN

AIRCRAFT STEERED IT CLEAR OF

WALLINGFORD TO CRASH AND

EXPLODE IN OPEN FIELDS. THEIR

SUPREME SACRIFICE AND CONSPICUOUS

GALLANTRY ALMOST CERTAINLY

SAVED THE LIVES OF MANY OF THE

TOWN’S INHABITANTS.

THESE ROADS HAVE BEEN NAMED

AFTER THEM AND THIS PLAQUE

HAS BEEN ERECTED IN GRATEFUL

THANKS BY THE BOROUGH OF WALLINGFORD.

“THEIR NAME LIVETH FOR EVERMORE”