Memorial to USAAF servicemen killed in Operation Market Garden to be unveiled at Langar Airfield
A memorial to commemorate those who served in Operation Market Garden during the Second World War will be unveiled at Langar airfield on Saturday (October 1).
The memorial stone, which has been designed and created by the East Midlands’ largest independent funeral directors, A.W. Lymn, The Family Funeral Service, will be situated at the first entrance of the airfield and on a stone base with a memorial message commemorating the fallen.
It pays tribute to the United States airmen who served at Langar between November, 1943, and October, 1944, and, in particular, those from the 441st Troop Carrier Group who took part in Operation Market Garden.
The doomed operation by paratroopers was a bid to try and capture bridges in Holland to the River Rhine at Arnhem, immortalised in the film A Bridge Too Far, so tanks could rumble into Germany and shorten the war.
On September 14, 1944, as part of Operation Market Garden, 45 C-47s of the 441st TCG USAAF dropped paratroops of the 82nd Airborne near Nijmegen, Holland. Five aircraft were lost to Flak.
On September 18, 40 C-47s, all towing CG-4A gliders carried out a reinforcement mission without loss or casualties.
No further missions were flown until September 23 when 90 C-47s, all towing gliders to Holland encountered flak that brought down one C-47.
This was the last operational mission by the USAAF from Langar, and ended the association of the Ninth Air Force with the airfield, which was also home to the RAF during the course of the war.
Now, 78 years later, a memorial remembering 16 US troops will be unveiled.
Matthew Lymn Rose, managing director at A.W. Lymn, said: “It is an honour and a privilege to be involved in building and designing the new memorial at Langar airfield.
"It is important to mark and remember the enormous sacrifices made by the US servicemen who left this airfield and sadly never returned.
"We pride ourselves on creating wartime memorials that create meaning and represent heartfelt thanks to those who are no longer here.
“A.W. Lymn has a raft of previous experience with wartime memorials including The Nottingham Victoria Cross Memorial, The Clifton War Memorial and The Nottingham Firefighters Memorial, along with this memorial.
"It is always humbling to be invited and involved with memorials that mean so much to the local associations and communities.”
The official unveiling ceremony is a private event with invitees including the Lord lieutenant of Nottinghamshire, Sir John Peace, representatives of Melton and Rushcliffe councils and selected US military personnel.
Members of the public are however invited to spend the afternoon at Langar airfield from 2pm to 5pm where several wartime historical displays will be open to view.
The airfield, which opened during the war in 1942, was used by both the Royal Air Force and United States Army Air Forces, where it was used primarily as a troop carrier transport airfield.
A.W. Lymn is a fifth-generation family business, headquartered in Sneinton.
The funeral directors operate 27 funeral homes across Notts and South Derbyshire and employ more than 120 people.
A.W. Lymn, The Craftsmen in Stone, is a division of the business incorporated in 1974 — since then, its specialist team have been creating and maintaining graves and monuments across Nottinghamshire and beyond.