A resident has been attempting to get the memorial, dedicated to the Catterick railway disaster of 1944, put up in Brompton-on-Swale, near Richmond.
The resident has gained support from Rishi Sunak and North Yorkshire Council and a memorial stone is currently being constructed ready for installation close to the old railway station on Gatherley Road, Brompton-on-Swale.
The Railway Hotel was destroyed in the incident (Image: ARCHIVE) It is hoped that Rishi Sunak and officers from North Yorkshire Council and Brompton-on-Swale Parish Council will attend the unveiling, which doesn’t have a set date yet.
The Catterick Bridge Explosion, which happened at about 4pm on February 4, 1944, saw a munitions depot near the Catterick railway station become the scene of a catastrophic explosion, killing 12 people, injuring 102, and leaving a trail of destruction that devastated the local area.
Days before the disaster, soldiers had been transferring large quantities of ammunition, part of preparations for the D-Day landings later that year.
A Catterick Bridge sign (Image: ARCHIVE) As soldiers unloaded explosives, witnesses noted the increasingly rough handling of the crates.
Moments later, a loud bang and a massive explosion sent shockwaves ten miles away.
Six six-ton trucks carrying anti-tank grenades detonated, setting off tons of incendiary bombs.
The Railway Hotel, station offices, seven houses, and a café were obliterated.
A packed double-decker bus and 25 people waiting on the station platform narrowly escaped annihilation.
Miraculously, a nearby petroleum depot and a massive 20,000lb blockbuster bomb in the goods yard did not detonate.
Amid the chaos, acts of extraordinary bravery emerged. John Weller, blown from his hut by the explosion, rescued three men from the burning building and helped others escape despite the risk of further detonations.
The aftermath of the 1944 explosion (Image: ARCHIVE) For his courage, King George VI awarded him the Edward Medal, which is now displayed at the Green Howards Museum in Richmond.
The explosion left a grim toll: six civilians and six servicemen lost their lives.
Four of the soldiers—Leading Aircraftman Euan Jenkins, Lieutenant Lawrence King, and Privates David Hopkins and Norman Day—were obliterated in the blast, their remains recovered only as fragments.
They are buried in a shared grave in Hornby churchyard.
The airmen, along with the others who died on that day, will be commemorated with this memorial – which will hopefully be put up later this year.
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Richmond and Northallerton MP Rishi Sunak has expressed the importance of the memorial to commemorate such a moment in North Yorkshire history.
He said: “I have been pleased to help the members of the public in his quest and I am delighted that with the assistance of North Yorkshire Council, the memorial will be erected close to where this terrible incident took place.
“The fact there was once a railway station at this spot and that so many people, some of them Servicemen, lost their lives there is almost lost in the mists of time. I think it is most appropriate that the people who died that day are commemorated and I applaud the member of the public’s initiative.”