Memorial to honour hero pilot who saved Spalding from tragedy will be returned

A memorial to honour a hero pilot who saved Spalding from potential tragedy is due to be reinstated in the coming weeks.

Pilot Officer George Furniss bravely battled to keep his stricken plane in the air as it spluttered over the town centre on September 27, 1953.

The 29-year-old’s actions ensured the Meteor VIII jet crashed into a field near the Vernatt’s Drain - avoiding houses and saving residents from disaster. However, the experienced pilot could not save himself - his parachute didn’t open when he baled out and his body was discovered at the foot of an apple tree in Two Plank Lane.

The late Coun Angela Newton, who remembered the incident as a young child, arranged for a memorial to Pilot Officer Furniss to be placed near Two Plank Bridge in 2021.

A year later it was moved as part of the Spalding Western Relief Road works but was later damaged and removed.

Spalding councillor Rob Gibson questioned at the last South Holland District Council meeting the current location of the memorial and when it will be returned as he had been approached by a family member.

Coun Liz Sneath, Portfolio Holder for Health and Wellbeing, Conservation and Heritage, said the memorial was in storage and that work at the site would be going for a few more weeks.

She said: “We are getting very close and then we will return it and perhaps re-build it on something stronger.”

The replacement for Two Plank footbridge was installed last week and is due to be open to the public in December.

Will you be pleased to see the return of the memorial? Post a comment below…