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  Video: Salford remembers Lancaster Bomber heroesby Tony Flynn
A service of dedication was held at Agecroft cemetery today in memory of the crew of Lancaster bomber PB304, from 106 squadron RAF, which crashed in Salford, on July 30th, 1944, and was organised by The Friends of Salford Cemeteries Trust. The crash killed all seven crew members and two civilians on the ground, yet had it not been for the ingenuity of the pilot, the accident could have killed hundreds more. The Lancaster bomber had flown from its base in Lincolnshire to drop its cargo of high- explosive bombs on German positions in Normandy. It was sent back due to bad weather, however the plane's engines were hit by enemy fire causing glycol, a vital engine coolant, to leak out of the plane. It made its way back to England flying a route which took it over Blackpool and then Salford. The plane was faltering, but the pilot knew that the bomber was still heavily-laden with 9,000 pounds of bombs on board. Had such a cargo hit Salford houses, the death toll would have been unimaginable. The PB304 bomber eventually crashed while the pilot was attempting to make an emergency landing on Littleton Road playing fields. Its wings hit a row of terraced houses on Regatta Street, causing the plane to hit the banks of the River Irwell and settle there near Langley Road. There was apparently a brief pause, before a tremendous boom when the payload of bombs caught fire. The explosion was so loud that it was reportedly heard eight miles away. The ceremony was opened by Peter Flannery who gave a brief introduction, this was followed by the Mayor George Wilson who gave his thoughts on the event, interestingly enough he was born within half-a-mile of the crash. The guest speaker was Joe Bamford who has written a book about the event called The Salford Lancaster - he gave an extremely knowledgable talk about the crash. The memorial service was led by the Rev. Kevin Ball, whilst 146 Northwich squadron ATC cadets played the last post on what was a very emotional day. The headstone was given free of charge to the society by a Halifax man, Tommy Topham who was a quarry owner, his generosity extended to paying for several war memorials throughout Britain. It was also heartening to see two former RAF members from the second world war in attendance, Jim Gardner and Norman Jones.
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