Guernsey Allied Aircrew Memorial dedicated

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Allied Aircrew Memorial dedication ceremony - Dakota overflying
Image caption,

At the end of the ceremony a Dakota from the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight did a flypast

The role of Allied airmen in World War Two has been marked by the dedication of a memorial outside Guernsey Airport.

It follows more than 50 years of research into the subject, which has found 153 names of those killed in Bailiwick of Guernsey waters.

The 6m (20ft) tall Allied Aircrew Memorial features models of a US B-17 and six Spitfires.

Written around its base are the names of the airmen known to have died off Guernsey, Alderney, Sark and Herm.

Allied Aircrew Memorial
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The memorial is topped by a B-17 and six Spitfires

Allied Aircrew Memorial dedication ceremony - Flowers laid and the names of those remembered on the memorial read out
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The names of the 153 airmen remembered on the memorial were read out as schoolchildren and historian John Goodwin laid a red rose for each name

Naval attaches from America, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the Czech Republic attended the ceremony along with a representative of the Royal Air Force.

Brig Gen Dieter E. Bareihs, US defense attache based in London, praised the "special recognition in the memorial to the Mighty Eighth and the United States Air Forces".

"I look at the memorial and I see the B-17 flying in formation with the Spitfires and that kind of represents our two countries standing side by side, shoulder to shoulder, not just in World War Two but the legacy that started there and continues to this day."

As well as the dedication of the memorial, six trees were planted representing each of the country's the airmen were from - including the former Czechoslovakia.

Allied Aircrew Memorial dedication ceremony - Naval attaches and the Bailiff of Guernsey
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Representatives of the six countries the aircrew had served with joined the Bailiff of Guernsey at the ceremony

Allied Aircrew Memorial dedication ceremony - Dakota overflying
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The Dakota flypast replaced a planned flypast by a Lancaster, Spitfire and Hurricane, which had to be cancelled for technical reasons

Allied Aircrew Memorial dedication ceremony - Plaques by trees unveiled
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Six trees were unveiled - each one representing the Allied countries that lost airmen over Bailiwick waters

John Silvester, chairman of the Allied Aircrew Memorial Committee, said it was fitting the memorial was dedicated in the 70th anniversary year of Guernsey's liberation from German occupation in World War Two and dedicated around the Battle of Britain anniversary.

He said it had only been possible due to help from local contractor, who offered their expertise for free, meaning the memorial cost about half of the originally estimate of £125,000.

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