For decades, the family of Royal Canadian Air Force Navigator Thomas Ferguson Wilson knew he had died during the Second World War, but didn’t know what happened to him.
Earlier this year, they learned was one of seven men on a Lancaster bomber that went down over a small village in Lincolnshire, England due to a mechanic failure on April 10, 1944.
They also learned that ever since then, people in town have honoured the four men in a special ceremony.
Ferguson Wilson was Kitchener resident Laura McBride’s great uncle. He was 26 at the time of his death.
McBride’s sister is a researcher who was planning a trip to Europe. When deciding where in the country to visit in January, she started plugging their uncle’s name on the internet.
“Lo and behold, she found a [BBC] article from 2016 talking about an annual memorial service that had been held by this very small town in England to memorialize the victims of this plane crash and in the article, there was a call for the family members to come forward,” McBride explained.
LISTEN | Local family discover memorial service in England for uncle previously considered MIA after Second World War:
The memorial was commissioned by the Lincolnshire Aircraft Recovery Group (LARG) in 2004. T
The group says on its website that their goal is to preserve what is now modern history, as a tribute to those who lost their lives during the war.
“A memorial to Lancaster ND820 at Bicker, near Boston,” reads LARG’s website. “The Memorial was blessed by the Padre from RAF Coningsby on its 60th Anniversary”.
McBride said she often wonders why the war commission had not reached out but according to a separate BBC article published in 2014, LARG is legally not allowed to contact relatives of crew members.
Though 80 years have passed, McBride and her family felt it important to be at this year’s memorial ceremony.
Flying officer Thomas Wilson was 26 years-old when he died and is buried at Stonefall Cemetery in Harrogate. (Submitted: Laura McBride )
A commemorative trip
Having made the discovery mere weeks before the memorial, McBride and her sister worked quickly to make the trip to Bicker Bar.
“When I found out that this had been happening for 80 years, my feeling was that they’ve been holding this space for us. They’ve been standing in for our family to be there to celebrate and memorialize my uncle and his crew,” McBride said.
Volunteers now work to keep the memorial clean and help host the annual ceremony.
“The idea of taking that on yourself for other families, I think it’s just so beautiful,” she said.
When the family went to honour their loved one, McBride says it was a wonderful moment.
They had the opportunity to meet a man and woman who attend the ceremony every year and say they witnessed the crash when they were young.
The family of three other men who had died in the crash were also present for this year’s ceremony.
McBride says the volunteers who help upkeep the memorial were elated to have one of the soldiers spoken for.
“We were lost to them for so long, they call us ‘the families’. So they’re just grateful to have the families start to find this monument,” she said.
Laura McBride says her great uncle Tom Wilson is remembered by his family for his sense of humour, mischievousness and intelligence. (Submitted: Laura McBride)
While it would be a pricey tradition to try and attend the memorial every year, McBride says she plans to eventually go back, but is at peace finally knowing how her great uncle died.
The bodies of six of the soldiers were never found. The area is marked as a Royal Air Force cemetery.
“It is sadly poignant to attend the memorial site and realise that six of the crew are still out there in the fields,” said Boston Coun. Paul Kenny in a BBC article published in March 2014.
However, witnesses of the downed bomber say they saw a soldier bail out from the vessel prior to the crash. That was McBride’s great uncle, who is currently buried at Stonefall Cemetery in Harrogate.
“Our journey to Bicker Bar was more than just a search for answers. It was a reminder of the power of memory and the importance of honouring those who sacrificed for others,” McBride said.