Market Rasen Valiant memorial
[photo: Jon Jolliffe]
A commemorative service at Market Rasen station in May 2010 marked the dedication of a memorial to the crew of RAF Valiant bomber WZ363 which crashed in a field adjoining the line in May 1964. The crash killed all 5 crew members aboard.
Market Rasen station itself is a site of some interest. On the line from Lincoln to Grimsby built in 1848 by the MS&LR, later the Great Central, it originally sported an all-over pitched roof covering the double track and two side platforms. The roof was removed in 1941 to recover the steel from the trusses. In later years the train service was thinned out, all freight facilities withdrawn and the signal box closed. Although it is now unstaffed, the station has been adopted by a group of interested locals. In the three years since the volunteer group was founded, hanging baskets and flower beds have been reintroduced and the station walls decorated with murals representing various aspects of local life, including the racecourse. Vandalism, litter and graffiti levels have dropped to near zero. In 2009 the station scooped The Oldie magazine's award for station of the year.
Amongst the station decorations is a memorial and adjacent illustrated panel (pictured) depicting RAF Valiant bomber WZ363. The Vickers Valiant was the first of a new generation of jet-powered bombers introduced in the aftermath of WW2. It first flew in 1952 and entered RAF service in 1955 as part of the V-bomber force that provided Britain's first nuclear deterrent. Totalling 111, the class saw service with conventional weapons in the Suez campaign. Superseded by Polaris submarines, and advanced missiles, the Valiants were switched to low-level flying and succumbed to airframe failures leading to their withdrawal in 1965. WZ363 was flying a training mission in 1963 when contact was lost and the plane plunged into a field, splintering the wreckage.
For more information about the Market Rasen station adoption group see here or contact TT member Brian Ward. For an account of the last flight of WZ363 see here