Gloucestershire | Stoke Orchard

St James the Great, Stoke Orchard

War Memorial

Ordnance Survey reference: SO 918282

From August 1942, Stoke Orchard was the home for Glider Training School number 3. Of the handful of fatal accidents, two crew men are buried in the churchyard. (The notes below about these two come from John Rennison's Wings over Gloucestershire (full bibliographic information on the Links & Sources page)
There appears to be no war memorial in the church or churchyard. There may be a war memorial elsewhere, awaiting a future revisit. Until then, here are the four WWII graves in the churchyard:

LIEUTENANT COLONEL
C.R.FRYER M.C.& BAR
THE KING'S ROYAL RIFLE CORPS
AIRBORNE
14TH JULY 1944 AGE 54
FLIGHT LIEUTENANT
H. HOLLINDRAKE
ROYAL AIR FORCE
29TH MAY 1942
LIFE IS IMMORTAL
LOVE IS ETERNAL

1322016 SERGEANT
C.E. PETRE
PILOT
ROYAL AIR FORCE
31ST AUGUST 1943 AGE 22
HE DIED FOR FREEDOM
MAY IT EVER REIGN
Miles Master DM404 from no. 3 Glider Training School was doing aerobatics near the Farmers Arms pub (Apperley), crashed and caught fire.

1054620 CORPORAL
W.C.PALMER
GLIDER PILOT REGIMENT
ARMY AIR CORPS
4TH SEPTEMBER 1942 AGE 21
SAFE IN THE ARMS OF
THE ETERNAL FATHERS
W.C. Palmer was piloting a General Aircraft Hotspur Glider - it crashed at Boddington after being released from tow.

Last modified 23 June 2001

LIEUTENANT COLONEL C.R.FRYER M.C.& BAR THE KING'S ROYAL RIFLE CORPS AIRBORNE 14TH JULY 1944 AGE 54	FLIGHT LIEUTENANT H. HOLLINDRAKE ROYAL AIR FORCE 29TH MAY 1942 LIFE IS IMMORTAL LOVE IS ETERNAL
1322016 SERGEANT C.E. PETRE PILOT ROYAL AIR FORCE 31ST AUGUST 1943 AGE 22 HE DIED FOR FREEDOM MAY IT EVER REIGN	Miles Master DM404 from no. 3 Glider Training School was doing aerobatics near the Farmers Arms pub (Apperley), crashed and caught fire.
1054620 CORPORAL W.C.PALMER GLIDER PILOT REGIMENT ARMY AIR CORPS 4TH SEPTEMBER 1942 AGE 21 SAFE IN THE ARMS OF THE ETERNAL FATHERS	W.C. Palmer was piloting a General Aircraft Hotspur Glider - it crashed at Boddington after being released from tow.