A wartime aircraft is to be towed into the centre of York to mark the devastating bombing of the city - and the lone French pilot who averted an even bigger disaster, reports The Northern Echo.
On Monday, April 28, a Hawker Hurricane aircraft will be transported to St Sampson’s Square on the back of a low-loader to mark the 72nd anniversary of the Baedeker Raids, often referred to as the York Blitz.
The attack happened in the early hours of Tuesday, April 29, 1942 when about 40 German Luftwaffe bombers crossed the East coast of England with their sights set on the historic City of York. The targets were selected from a German tourist guide to the city.
The bombers set the city ablaze, destroying or badly damaging a number of historic buildings in the city, including the medieval Guildhall.
About 95 people died, 212 were injured and in all, 579 homes destroyed and about half the homes in the city damaged.
The damage could have been worse but for the intervention of a lone, 23-year-old French fighter pilot Yves Mahé, with the 253 Squadron RAF fighter command, who happened to be in the area and saw the city ablaze from a distance.
He flew over in his Hawker Hurricane and shot down one bomber and began to target another German aircraft, but they turned and left. His intervention was said to be crucial; as the bombers’ prime target was said to be Rowntrees’ main chocolate factory, filled with high explosives for manufacturing ammunition.
Ian Reed, director of the Yorkshire Air Museum, said: “It is very fitting that as the city prepares for the Tour de France Grand Départ, our Hawker Hurricane is making this now annual pilgrimage into York to celebrate the day a French airman saved York from what could have been catastrophic damage had the raid continued for much longer.
Read more of this report from The Northern Echo.