166 Squadron RAF

Conflict Commemorated:WW2

Address:Humberside Airport

Parish:Kirmington

Type of Memorial:Board/Plaque/Tablet

Description:An original station bell, mounted on wood and situated above a framed poem and an aluminium plate on a plastic board. This board has the crest of th 166 Squadron and is inscribed in black.

Inscription:(Plaque) 166 SQUADRON/ ROYAL AIR FORCE/ THIS PLAQUE WAS PRESENTED BY/ HUMBERSIDE COUNTY COUNCIL/ TO COMMEMORATE THE HEAVY LOSSES SUSTAINED/ BY 166 SQUADRON WHICH OPERATED FROM THIS/ AIRFIELD BETWEEN JANUARY 1943 AND MAY 1945

Transcription:(Poem) Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of earth/ And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;/ Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth/ Of sun-split clouds - and done a hundred things/ You have not dreamed of - wheeled and soared and swung/ High in the sunlit silence. Hov'ring there,/ I've chased the shouting wind along, and flung/ My eager craft through footless halls of air./ Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue/ I've topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace/ Where never lark, or even eagle flew -/ And, while with silent lifting mind I've trod/ The high untrespassed sanctity of space,/ Put out my hand and touched the face of God./ John Gillespie Magee, Jr./ This tablet is erected in memory of the 922 aircrew/ Of the squadron who were killed in action/ Royal Canadian Air Force 142/ Royal New Zealand Air Force 10/ Royal Australian Air Force 36/ United States 5/ Royal Air Force 729/

Sources Used:L.F.H.S. and Charles Anderson

Photograph Credits:L.F.H.S.