Appeal to find relatives of wartime pilot from Co Antrim

Sergeant Joseph Marshall Loughridge was killed in 1941 and later buried at Victoria Cemetery in the Co Antrim town.

Andrew Tiley, from Trowbridge, England, is seeking to piece together Sgt Loughridge's history for a local aircraft museum.

Mr Tiley's late father, Trevor, was one of the first on the scene after the pilot's fatal crash.

"Sergeant Loughridge was a pilot with 87 squadron RAF, based at Colerne, Wiltshire," Mr Tiley said.

"He died when his Hurricane aircraft crashed on the night of September 2, 1941. It appears he manoeuvred to avoid another Hurricane and entered a spin from which he had insufficient height to recover.

"My late father, Trevor Tiley, was in the Home Guard waiting to join the Army. He had just finished duty and was returning to his parents' home in a rank of small cottages when an aircraft just cleared the rooftops and crashed a few hundred yards away in a field. Dad ran to the crash and found the Hurricane well ablaze. Ammunition was exploding in the heat and Dad, by then joined by an RAF chap billeted nearby, could not get near enough to try and rescue the pilot.

"The RAF was soon on the scene and removed the pilot and most of the wreckage. Dad never heard any more about it, but it obviously stayed with him. There is still a depression in the field and small bits of metal still surface occasionally."

Sgt Loughridge had only been with the squadron for a few weeks, directly out of training.

His parents were Thomas and Ellen Loughridge of Scotch Quarter, Carrickfergus.

Before enlisting, he worked for the Belfast Banking Company at Waring Street, Belfast.

Mr Tiley added: "My aim is to create a display for a museum dedicated to aviation in the area (Boscombe Down Aviation Collection).

"If family or anyone has any information which could help, I would be delighted to get in touch."

"I feel strongly that these sacrifices should not be forgotten."