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.
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