Lancaster crash story on video

I was recently reminded of a film called “Per Purum Tonantes”, made by a former student of mine at the Lincoln School of Media, George Horne. It’s an abridged version of a film he made about the night of the 18th February 1943, when Lancaster Bomber W4270 crashed in a farmer’s field during a training mission, resulting in the deaths of all seven of its crew. Lincolnshire historical researcher Di Ablewhite tells the story of how the film came to be made.

Per Purum Tonantes from George Horne on Vimeo.

Per Purum Tonantes, the motto of 61 Squadron, means “Thundering through clean air”. At various times during the second world war, the squadron was based at RAF stations in Lincolnshire, including Coningsby, Waddington and Hemswell.