Carving on loan to Waterbeach Military Heritage Museum captures wartime return

Wing Commander John Grenville, station commander RAF Wyton, came to Waterbeach Military Heritage Museum to unveil The Return on Saturday (30 November).

The stone carving by Gordon Hayes depicts the crew of RAF 514 Squadron’s Lancaster bomber returning home to Waterbeach after a daylight raid on Duisburg in Germany on 14 October, 1944.

The iconic moment was originally captured in a photograph. The carving is on loan and Waterbeach Military Heritage Museum needs to raise £13,000 in the next 18 months to retain it.

The museum says it is “iconic to Waterbeach” and wants to display it in memory of all the people who gave their lives flying or serving at Waterbeach RAF or with the Royal Engineers.

Museum chair Adrian Wright said about 40 people attended what was a “lovely occasion”, at which the wing commander was given a tour of the museum.

“He was really impressed with what we’ve got and how we’re trying to show what has happened over the years,” noted Adrian.

In the picture on which the carving was based, the man on the far left is Sergeant Frederick Saunders, the flight engineer. Present on Saturday was his daughter, Linda Hauge.