On January 29th, 1943, five Wellington bombers had taken off from Moreton-in-Marsh airfield, Gloucestershire, on Operation Nickel, dropping leaflets on the heavily defended city of Nantes, the site of Atlantic submarine bases. One of the aircraft crashed on its return in the Gloucestershire village of Ruscombe, near Stroud. All five crewmen died in the crash.

The crews were coming to the end of their bomber training and the exercise was intended to be a low-risk graduation flight. The cause of the crash has never been established, but as it happened in darkness at 11.04pm, the crew may have been disorientated, misjudged the height of the aircraft, had low fuel, or the aircraft may have been previously sustained damage.

The plane was piloted by 23- year-old former bank teller and Canadian national Sgt James Waldo McCausland from Marysville, New Brunswick. He joined the Canadian army in April 1941. Five months later he was discharged to join the Royal Canadian Airforce.

The other crew members were British airmen Sgt Percy Eric Farren, Navigator; Sgt George William Ayres, Wireless Operator/Air Gunner; Sgt Francis Charles William Palmer, Air Bomber; Sgt Frank Arthur Morgan, Air Gunner.

Stroud Home Guard and Air Force officers attended the scene. The next day US troops set up camp in the valley and over the next two weeks all air crew bodies were recovered the remains of the aircraft removed.

Rebecca Charley, who owns Ruscombe Farm, the site of the crash, explained what it means to her, 80 years on.