Illustrated Somerby talk on famous local planes and pilots
An illustrated talk is to be held at Somerby’s All Saints Church as part of the long weekend commemorating the area’s paratroopers who fought in the Second World War.
Flying Foxhunters, on Friday September 6 at 7pm, will explore the famous pilots, planes and passengers who lived at or flew from the villages close to Somerby between 1919 and 1945.
Starting at the old airfield at Burrough Court, presenter Jeremy Heygate will talk about Lord Furness and his various aircraft, including a rumoured link to Neville Chamberlain’s negotiations with Hitler at Munich.
There will be some previously unheard details about the 10th Battalion of the Parachute regiment, who were billeted at Burrough Court, and the Battle of Arnhem.
Part two covers the Loewenstein family from Thorpe Satchville, where local flyers Alfred and his son Bobby both met tragic and mysterious airborne fates, and Burrough on the Hill, with its connections to a member of the Peake family who played a major part in the most famous aerial conflict of all time.