Lest We Forget: The air war graves of Lowestoft Cemetery
Cemetery Lodge, Normanston Drive, Lowestoft, Suffolk, NR32 2PZ
Lowestoft Cemetery is the resting place of 122 service personnel from the second world war. During the Great War, the vast majority of casualties buried there were mostly Navy and Army. The 1939-1945 war saw an upsurge of Air Force victims being interred in Lowestoft as the air war escalated. Lowestoft man Bob Collis has spent decades researching the details and backgrounds of some of the airmen and women who made the supreme sacrifice.
Many stories of courage and sacrifice lie buried in the war graves. The lady warden killed in the infamous "Waller's raid" in 1942, honoured with a new headstone 70 years after her death; the RAF man killed in a tragic "friendly fire" incident; the German pilot buried as "unknown" for 75 years and the sad story of Lowestoft's first RAF casualty of the war, killed on a ferrying flight on his 19th birthday.
Some of the graves are maintained in good order by the Friends of Lowestoft Cemetery, an all volunteer group which works with cemetery owners East Suffolk Council and the event will highlight their efforts.
Cemetery Lodge, Normanston Drive, Lowestoft, Suffolk, NR32 2PZ
Wheelchair access may not be possible for every section of the walk as some locations are on uneven ground in a cemetery