From North Norfolk News:
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Tribute to Holt air crash victim
20 August 2008
The cousin of a brave RAF man who lost his life in a horrific mid-air collision over Holt has said she fears his memory could be lost.
Forty years ago seven servicemen were killed as a thunderstorm raged and two RAF aeroplanes crashed 12,000ft above the north Norfolk town.
The servicemen's families marked the deaths of their loved ones with memorial services at the time.
But with the 40-year milestone of the tragic accident passing two days ago with no formal recognition, worries that the men would be forgotten were voiced by Pam Matthews, who said she had hoped the RAF would mark the occasion.
In the absence of a formal ceremony Mrs Matthews made a pilgrimage from her home in Milton Keynes, with mother, Molly Richardson, in memory of their family member, Roger Stanley Morton, who was killed in the air disaster.
On the significant anniversary they went to see the site of the crash and visited St Faith's crematorium near Norwich where a small memorial stands.
Mrs Matthews, who was 17 when her cousin was killed, decided to start researching the crash earlier this year. She said: “I thought that somebody ought to mark it so he was not forgotten.”
Flying officer Morton was one of four men in a fated Victor tanker which set off from RAF Marham on a practice flight on August 19, 1968.
The plane hit a thunderstorm at the same time as a Canberra bomber from RAF Bruggen, in Germany.
What was subsequently put down to a “freak accident” caused by the weather and a radar system unable to cope meant the two planes hit each other in the sky.
The last words radioed from the crew of the Victor XH646 were “I am at 13,500 feet and climbing”.
The EDP reported the proximity of the crash to the town, as wing sections, ejector seats and other debris from the plane landed in people's gardens and houses and witnesses saw a fireball in the sky.
One dead airman came from South Africa with others from Essex, Hertfordshire and Cornwall.
Mrs Matthews said that the day had been worthwhile and it meant a lot just to be there.