蜜芽传媒

Francis McCluskey from Ballymoney was an air gunner on a Halifax MkII of 405 Squadron which took off from RAF Topcliffee, Yorkshire on 6 October 1942.听 The mission was to follow a flight plan across the Netherlands and bomb Osnabrook in Germany.听 At around midnight, the bomber was intercepted by a German nightfighter over Rhenen, Utrecht, and the crew were forced to bail out.

On the morning of 7 October 1942, Jan Pol cycled from his house on the Kasteel Prattenburg estate near Rhenen in the Netherlands, with his 15 year old daughter, Jannie.听 The retired policeman had heard a report that a Royal Air Force (RAF) bomber had crashed nearby.听 As they made their way along a country road near the entrance to the estate, they were shocked to see in the distance a parachutist trapped in a tree.听 The solitary figure was hanging lifeless by the lines of his ripped parachute - sadly, it was clear that the airman was dead.

Suddenly, they heard German soldiers approaching.听 Realising they would be in danger if they were found near the scene, Jan knew they had to leave immediately.听 At that moment, Jannie noticed a yellow cap lying on the ground beneath the airman.听 Without thinking, she lifted it and put it into her coat pocket, before quickly cycling away behind her father. Now, 70 years later - the Ulster Airman's cap is coming home for a special memorial service - Keith Beattie听of Ballymoney Museum tells us the remarkable story.听

Helen Aiken. A farmers daughter has been singing since she was no size. Growing up near Articlave on the north coast, Helen听studied music in Belfast, then Munich and London.听She has听won prize after prize and recently, was a finalist in Northern Ireland Opera's Festival of Voice in the Glens - On a dander across the fields she loves and knows so well, she told Ronan Lundy why her place is important to her.

Nearly 170 years ago, something happened in Comber, County Down, that had never happened before and never has since.听The life and times of a flamboyant character from the village Major General Sir Robert Rollo Gillespie was commemorated by the unveiling of a statue in his honour. He fought in the West Indies, San Domingo, Kingston and听Constantinople.

Now, 200 years after his death on the battlefield, we're hearing about听his life story, as听told in a new booklet, written by Comber natives Des Rainey and Laura Spence听

Remembering Rollo, the Story Behind the Statue is听available now in the village and from Comber Historical Society.听There will be a launch of the book听at 7.30pm on Monday 3rd November in Comber Primary school.

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