Not Many Wise

[29] Skating on Little Fen, Earith and a plane crash

Article was written by:

John (Jack) Wales

Born in 1925, at 16 (1941) he joined the local Earith Home Guard and then joined the Black Watch in 1943.

Earith village history

See all the articles in this category:

[1] John (Jack) Wales: Earith early years, born 1925
[2] 1930’s school playground
[3] Outside play in 1930′s Earith
[4] 1930’s Earith getting to school and learning about farming
[5] Old bridges at Earith
[6] At school in 1930’s Earith
[7] 1934 Earith The Bunny Fellowship
[8] 1930’s Earith Annaul Parade for Cottage Hospital
[9] Earith 1930’s early school days
[10] Elizabethan Shilling found in Earith
[11] Huntingdon Grammar School days
[12] Evocative walk Earith British School and Chapel Lane
[13] Evocative walk; 1930’s Pubs in Earith
[14] Albert Maile’s Garage Earith
[15] Evocative walk, Bridge End and Earith High Street
[16] Evocative Earith walk; graves and rolling in the aisle
[17] Earith British School 1930’s
[18] Evocative walk; Earith skating to other places
[19] Earith evocative walk; Discipline and gardens
[20] Evocative walk; Earith farming 1930’s and earlier
[21] Earith cows, calves and milk
[22] Earith 1930’s gravel, silage and crows
[23] Earith National fishing attraction
[24] Earith Bonfire and fireworks – before health and safety!
[25] Cycling through localised Earith flooding
[26] Earith WW2 and evacuees
[27] Earith parades 1936 to 1960
[28] War preparations and Soldiers from Dunkirk
[29] Skating on Little Fen, Earith and a plane crash
[30] War years 1941 – June 1943
[31] Fancy dress in Earith 1950’s
[32] Earith School Concert 1912

All categories:

Earith village history

Table of Contents:

Skaters on Little Fen, Earith.
Skaters on Little Fen, Earith. By Peter Reason licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0

January 1985 skating on Little Fen, Earith.

Jack Wales skating on Little Fen, Earith.
Jack Wales skating on Little Fen, Earith. By Peter Reason licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0

The skaters are out on the flooded area known as Little Fen, Earith which lies close to the Bury Fen famous for claiming to be where Ice Hockey originated from.

Jack Wales seen here, used to skate on this fen.

(Then a memory of 17th January 1942 at the same place came into his mind…)

Plane crash in 1942

A world war 2 bomber and fighter.
Stirling bomber and Hurricane flying close to each other.

At this very spot way back in 1942 as a Stirling bomber and a Hurricane were manoeuvring above their heads.
Suddenly there was a loud bang and looking upwards they saw some of the crew bale out and both planes fell to the ground.
Unfortunately there was not sufficient height for the parachutes to open.

John, a member of the Home-guard, quickly pulled off his skates, put on some wellies and headed off to the crash site which was about a mile or so away.

The Memorial to the crew can be found next to Earith Sluice near to the side of the road.

The memorial at Earith for those who died in the air crash.
The memorial at Earith for those who died in the air crash. By Peter Reason licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
John Wales' family sitting on deck chairs watching the skating.
John Wales’ family sitting on deck chairs watching the skating. By Peter Reason licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0

See the next article: [30] War years 1941 – June 1943
Or see the first article in this series: [1] Earith early years

See all the articles in this category:

[1] John (Jack) Wales: Earith early years, born 1925
[2] 1930’s school playground
[3] Outside play in 1930′s Earith
[4] 1930’s Earith getting to school and learning about farming
[5] Old bridges at Earith
[6] At school in 1930’s Earith
[7] 1934 Earith The Bunny Fellowship
[8] 1930’s Earith Annaul Parade for Cottage Hospital
[9] Earith 1930’s early school days
[10] Elizabethan Shilling found in Earith
[11] Huntingdon Grammar School days
[12] Evocative walk Earith British School and Chapel Lane
[13] Evocative walk; 1930’s Pubs in Earith
[14] Albert Maile’s Garage Earith
[15] Evocative walk, Bridge End and Earith High Street
[16] Evocative Earith walk; graves and rolling in the aisle
[17] Earith British School 1930’s
[18] Evocative walk; Earith skating to other places
[19] Earith evocative walk; Discipline and gardens
[20] Evocative walk; Earith farming 1930’s and earlier
[21] Earith cows, calves and milk
[22] Earith 1930’s gravel, silage and crows
[23] Earith National fishing attraction
[24] Earith Bonfire and fireworks – before health and safety!
[25] Cycling through localised Earith flooding
[26] Earith WW2 and evacuees
[27] Earith parades 1936 to 1960
[28] War preparations and Soldiers from Dunkirk
[29] Skating on Little Fen, Earith and a plane crash
[30] War years 1941 – June 1943
[31] Fancy dress in Earith 1950’s
[32] Earith School Concert 1912

All article categories:

Article first published:

John (Jack) Wales