IT is good to hear that there will be a ceremony to remember Canadian officer Andrew Mynarski and the 1,266 men who died flying from Middleton St George during the Second World War (Echo, Aug 16).

What a great pity it is that this cannot be held in the beautiful chapel that the airmen built themselves. It was converted from a briefing hut.

Polished wooden beams were made from used ammunition boxes, the ornate light fittings out of cocoa tins and the altar cloth was donated, so I believe, by Darlington WI. It was also a work of art.

Up until the 1970s it was in regular use and, as a student at a nearby teacher training college, I used it daily.

We always had a sense of gratitude and respect for those we owed it to.

Sadly, when I returned to visit it some ten years ago, I was devastated to find that it had disappeared.

In its place stood the entrance to a retirement village that had been built on part of the airport land.

Ironically, it carried a notice about caring. Not about our heritage clearly.

I would dearly like to know who was responsible for this act of legal vandalism, if only to give them a chance to apologise.

Meanwhile, I will attend the ceremony later this month and reflect again on what we and our Canadian friends have lost.

Bill Bartle, Barnard Castle.