We recently visited the small Lancashire village of Freckleton, Lancashire.
The sun was out, and brightened up an otherwise sombre visit, for the reasons outlined below.

From Wiki :

Freckleton is a village on the Fylde coast in Lancashire, England, to the south of Kirkham and east of the seaside resort of Lytham St Annes.

Freckleton is near to Warton, with its links to BAE Systems. Warton Aerodrome’s 2.4 km runway is partly within Freckleton’s boundary.

The name of the village appears in the Domesday Book as Frecheltun and is said to derive from “Farmstead of a man called Frecla”, with Old English tun and Nordic personal name. An alternative spelling of Frequleton has been referred to in local history publications.

The Post office in Freckleton :

In the 1800s, Freckleton, already a place used to supply water to the Roman fort at Kirkham, was used as a port assisting the ship building industry. The local community helped making rope and sail cloth, remnants of which exist in local street names.

A military heritage runs through the history of Freckleton. In World War II, American forces from the neighbouring Warton Aerodrome resided in the village. The most tragic event in the village’s history was the Freckleton Disaster of 1944-08-23, when an aircraft attempting to land at Warton during stormy weather crashed onto Freckleton’s Holy Trinity School. A total of sixty-one people lost their lives, including thirty-eight infants, their two teachers, and the three air crew. Other victims included several residents and US personnel in a snack bar across the road from the school. Annual commemorations still take place, attended by residents and US veterans.

Freckleton village center :

There is an excellent site here which gives a full run down and details of the disaster on that fateful day, an excellent reference page with lots of info and historical photographs.

At 10.30 hours on the morning of Wednesday August 23rd, 1944 B-24 Liberator H-20 42-50291was cleared for take-off from Warton’s runway 08. 291′, an ex-490th Bomb Group machine, “CLASSY CHASSIS II” had been brought to the U.S.A.A.F.’s huge Base Air Depot 2 for refurbishment prior to being allocated to the 2nd Combat Division.

B-24h liberator

On this day, she was being test-flown before resuming service and this task fell to 1st Lieutenant John Bloemendal, one of BAD 2′s regular test pilots, with T/Sgt Jimmie Parr as co-pilot and Sgt Gordon Kinney as flight engineer.

Freckleton war memorial :

The take-off was uneventful and the B-24 headed out over the Lancashire countryside, accompanied by a second B-24, 42-1353 being test flown by 1st Lieutenant Pete Manassero . Over the radio, Bloemendal called Manassero’s attention to the cloud formation towards the South-South- East. It was a very impressive sight and looked like a “thunderhead” according to Manassero.

Mass grave and memorial to the children killed in the disaster :