Wow! What an afternoon we’ve had at Applegarth Primary School. Ten VIP guests visited our school to join in with and listen to our Y6 class assembly all about the Halifax Bomber which crashed very close to the school on 2nd December 1943.
Miss Mutch’s and Mrs Parson’s Year 6 children prepared a fantastic presentation which included lots of historical information about the crash as well as poems from the children and a short video showing the children visiting the memorial site demonstrating how close the crash actually was to school.
Memories were shared by ex-pupils who were in school the day of the crash, Joan Haslam (who was in reception) and Jim Sedgwick (who was a little older). Flight Sergeant Darren Jones spoke on behalf of RAF Leeming sharing his insight into the crash. The assembly was closed with a prayer by Reverend David Johnson from All Saints Church.
A special thank you to our other very special guests who were in attendance:
Virginia Arrowsmith from the Heritage Hub
Margaret Bousted from the Local Records Office
Tony Eaton a local author who was also a visitor to our school as an evacuee
John Parkinson from the Local History Society
Councillor Phil Eames, the Mayor of Northallerton
Sergeant Jonathon Snelling, one of our school governors
Hannah Chapman from The Darlington & Stockton Times and The Northern Echo
And finally, a very special thank you to Mrs Cross, our passionate history lead, who organised extremely special and memorable event.
Poems by our Year 6 pupils, Rita, Finley and Emily
Fantastic, what an informative assembly and a great opportunity to hear first hand of an important piece of Applegarth history.
Many thanks to you and all the staff for an excellent commemorative afternoon, but even more particularly to Y6 for their superb preparations and presentation, and all your pupils for their reception and interested attention.
We look forward to reading Hannah’s professional account in the D&S.
I have forwarded your message to Jim with a receipt request as I am not sure if recent messages have been getting through.
Will be in touch about the future when times become a bit quieter but if there is anything else with which we can assist please ask without hesitation.
Best wishes, John Parkinson
A fantastic tribute and a wonderful collection of memories.
Thanks for the invite.
Regards
Jonny Snelling
Thank you all for the invitation, I was honoured. I have to say the children took a keen interest of the reasons and meaning of the remembrance of the event of the Halifax bomber. The naming of the crew was very poignant.
Also, all of the children appeared to be happy and relaxed during the whole time of the proceedings.
Congratulations to all of the staff for your efforts.