A housing developer in Godmanchester has purchased 50 signed copies of a local history book to give to new residents.
Roger Leivers’ book, Stirling to Essen: The Godmanchester Stirling: a Bomber Command Story of Courage and Tragedy, uncovers the story of a stricken Short Stirling Royal Air Force bomber that crashed into fields to the east of Godmanchester during World War Two.
David Wilson Homes are building new homes at Romans’ Edge and funds from the books will go to the Godmanchester Foodbank.
Roger said: “'On the 11th April 1942, eight men returned from a raid on the German industrial town of Essen, badly damaged, they almost made it home. The crash close to the development saw the captain and a gunner lose their lives, of the six who survived three would not live to see VE Day.“
All the road names on the latest phase of the Bearscroft Lane development have been named after those involved in the crash.
Roger added: “Through the naming of the roads in their memory they will live on and their sacrifice will be honoured which means so much to their families.”
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