The Welford Anglo American Memorial Grove
Adjacent to AMMO ALLEY is situated the Welford Memorial Grove .In 1992 to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the base a mixture of British and American native trees were planted to symbolise the Anglo American bonds that have grown over the years at Welford.
The grove is now home to a number of Memorials commemorating all aspects of the bases long and varied history . In this quite place we can remember.
To date there are now 5 memorial in the grove :
50th Anniversary Memorial
The first Memorial was placed in the tree grove to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the use of the base and to honour the military and civilian personel who have been stationed or worked on the base over the last 50 years .
435th Troop Carrier Group Memorial
The Second memorial is dedicated to the members of the US 435th Troop Carrier Group stationed here during WW2 and was dedicated at a very moving ceremony involving USAAF and 101st Airborne veterans to commemorate the D-DAY invasion to liberate Europe
101 Squadron Memorial
The 3rd Memorial is dedicated to crew of Special Operations Lancaster DV290 of 101 Squadron which crashed on the airfield returning home during the Nuremberg Raid having carried out a vital electronic countermeasures roll during the raid . All the crew sadly perished.
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Berkshire Parachute Association Memorial
The 4th Memorial is dedicated to the memory of the Airborne troops who left Newbury during WW2 and failed to return.
REUNION 2002 Memorial
The 5th Memorial was unveiled in 2002 to mark the reunion of US and RAF ex veterans of the base.
Every 11th of November the tree grove becomes the focus for a moving Remembrance day service attended by civil and military organisations. In the grove now are 3 bench seats presented by the Berkshire Parachute Association for those who wish to sit and relax in this peaceful setting .
Lt Col Sheri Andino (Commander RAF Fairford)
and
Col Susan Kaufmann (Former Commander RAF Welford)
at the Welford Memorial stone April 2000
