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Aug 27, 2023

The solitary gravestone on the hills overlooking the Ribble Valley that you'd never know was there

The headstone was erected in 2014 to commemorate two lives lost almost 100 years

The headstone was erected in 2014 to commemorate two lives lost almost 100 years ago

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Anyone who drives through the picturesque Ribble Valley countryside near Sabden might be intrigued as to why a single, seemingly new, gravestone stands solemnly among the hills overlooking the countryside.

The memorial in Clitheroe Road between Sabden and the A59 is actually one of two in the area which were installed to commemorate 11 airman who crashed and died in the area during the Second World War.

This gravestone, along with another at Salter Fell, was unveiled and blessed in November 2014. It is part of a project by Clitheroe Youth Forum to honour the 25 people, killed in 15 separate air crashes between 1940 and 1949 in the Ribble Valley.

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The memorial just outside of Sabden is in honour of two pilots, an American and an Australian, who crashed in the Ribble Valley during the war. Military records and websites such as the Lancashire Aircraft Investigation Team reveal the stories behind their tragic deaths.

On October 24 in 1942 Flight Sergeant John Leslie Goulter, of the Royal Australian Air Force, crashed his Defiant Mark 1 close to Gisburn. Although he had been briefed for a route via Doncaster, Selby and Harrogate, it was later found that he had in fact taken a more direct route.

He was still on course for his chosen route when he flew over Barnoldswick during a severe hailstorm at approx. 11.30am and proceeded to circle the above the cloud base. It was assumed that for some reason Sgt Goulter had lost confidence in his position and was seeking to verify his location. However he was almost certainly all too aware that he was likely to be in the proximity of high ground and knowing the danger would have been very reluctant to descend through the cloud.

Eyewitnesses to the final moments of the flight heard the aircraft before they caught sight of it and observed it come out of the low cloud. The aircraft emerged at a steep angle of around 45 degrees and dived straight into the ground under power.

All recalled there being a loud explosion and those who ran to the scene found the bulk of the aircraft embedded deeply in the ground with fragments scattered about. No crew had been seen to bail out and no immediate sign of the pilot was evident from the wreck.

It was some hours later when home guard personnel digging on the site discovered evidence of the fate of Sgt John Leslie Goulter. The airman, who was from Glen Niven, Queensland, Australia, is buried in Barrow-in -Furness cemetery.

Two years later, on February 6 in 1944, Flight Officer John R. Runnells of the US Air Force crashed into Pendle Hill. F/O Runnells, who was born in Philadelphia County, in the state of Pennsylvania, had signed up to the 310th Ferry Squadron as part of the US Airforce and had risen to the rank of Flight Officer by the time 1944 rolled around.

Little more is known of Runnells, only that he was 22 at the time of his death, and that he had only signed up to the armed forces due to the emergence of World War II. He was flying in a squadron of five transporting the vehicles from East Wretham in Norfolk, across to Warton, on February 6, 1944, when the fatal crash happened.

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