Wettenhall Harriers
This crash had a profound effect on many. I was in classes at the time. The school in Winsford is only a few miles away from the crash site.
The shock wave from the initial explosion stopped the classroom extraction fans and the windows shook in their frames. Prompted by the screams from pupils in the yard we rushed to the windows to see what was happening.
We had heard the loud engine noises from the four Harriers as they passed to the south of our playing fields it was muted they used our rugby post as a turn point, as the noise continued after the explosion few believed it came from the aircraft. The two remaining from the flight made a pass before leaving the area. Looking across the fields the sky above the treeline was filled with debris. At first it looked like a black cloud of smoke then it turned earthwards and rained, a mass of small pieces falling to ground.
The collision and following explosion was violent in extreme.
The RAF cleared the site in a week, the high trees and hedges remained covered in debris. The most harrowing memory I have was the discovery some time later of bone fragments from a tree by a local farmer.
The church in Wettenhall has held services in remembrance of the two pilots