Welcome to Downham Market Airfield Cairn Memorial Website

Photo by Chris Coverdale

The airfield memorial stands as a cherished tribute to the brave servicemen and women who served at RAF Downham Market, a pivotal Royal Air Force Bomber Station from July 1942 to September 1945.

I want to express my deepest gratitude to everyone who has contributed and continues to give their help and support to this memorial project, as your ongoing support encourages others to join and sustain this effort. Your Support is invaluable and greatly appreciated.

Your generosity will ensure that the sacrifice of our fallen heroes, many of whom were never found, can now be remembered together at the memorial forever. This act of remembrance honours their bravery and keeps their memory alive for generations to come. 

The memorial, which honours their sacrifice from 1942 to 1945, will stand as a testament to their bravery.

To everyone who has contributed through the GoFundMe page, thank you. Your ongoing kindness and support are vital in keeping this memorial alive, and I sincerely appreciate your generosity.

With this memorial, we are keeping the legacy of those who served and fought for freedom. 

"We Will Remember Them"

Photo of the memorial in July 2025 with the plaques installed; however, the lush green grass on the memorial embankments was killed off, not sure how. Ongoing maintenance is due throughout January to May 2026.

I am currently considering cost-effective ways to replace the tired look of the dead grass with either new turf or a more permanent solution, such as granite gravel, for easy maintenance. Also, there is a matter of replacing some or all of the losses plaques!

At this stage, there is still much to do to get the memorial ready for the official unveiling and blessing ceremony to be held at the end of May 2026. Owing to the poor weather conditions, this work can only be carried out on dry days.

I'm sorry to anyone visiting the memorial while all the changes are carried out.

Hold off on visiting if you are making a long journey until the memorial is looking its best, until all the issues have been put right, which should be by the end of April 2026.

If anyone would still like to visit and see the location while the improvements are underway, please feel free to do so.   

Please remember to support the memorial with a donation if you can, as I need more support and would greatly appreciate it. You can do this by going to the donate page on this website.

Thank you, Best wishes,   Christopher Coverdale. 

The Photos below show the Downham Market Airfield Cairn Memorial as it currently is. I appreciate everyone's patience while the fixes and improvement work is carried out (There is still much to do)

Photos by Chris Coverdale

The Downham Market Airfield Cairn memorial, 30 January 2026: the right-side stonework is in place; both sides are completed; the balance of the memorial looks good. The embankment work will start as the weather warms—significant maintenance changes to follow soon. 

Photo by Chris Coverdale

18 February 2026 Website Update:

Several pages on this website are currently under construction and will be added upon completion. 

Due to heavy rain, I haven't been able to complete vital work at the memorial.

Work on the memorial improvement will start up again just as soon as the warm weather, or should I say dryer conditions, arrive!

26 February 2026, Memorial update:

Confirmation has been given to me that the eight Memorial Losses plaques will be removed on 25 March 2026, repaired by the Plaque Sponsor/manufacturing company, and replaced and reinstated sometime in April 2026. 

10 March 2026

The latest maintenance work was carried out on 7 March 2026. to the memorial embankment ( Please see photos below)   

The next maintenance work will be to add black stainless steel edging to the flat top edge of the top soil area and to the borders of the left and right banks to the bottom, and to continue the flint stone effect around the side banks. A membrane will be added to the soil, and a decorative granite stone will be applied. The extra stainless steel laser-cut memorial Plaques will be supplied, along with the black granite corners. The floor will be repainted and the potholes repaired, with the surface area outside the front of the memorial to be repaired in time for the official blessing and unveiling of the memorial.

Update on memorial work: the changes are beginning to take effect. On Saturday, 14 March, the left and right outer sides of the embankment have been decorated with Norfolk Flint Stone to complement the inner display of the memorial. The edging has been installed, and now we need to put the flint stone along the back embankment. Behind the back, a flagpole is to be installed, with a decorative area and a pathway running along the left bank to the flagpole area. I hope to have the back embankment flint stone and edging work completed on Thursday, 19 March, in preparation for the flat-top memorial area. Your continued support makes this progress possible, and I look forward to sharing the upcoming steps with you.

On 25 March 2026, the Plaque sponsors will remove the lost plaques for repair, with reinstallation scheduled for mid-April 2026.  The new Cairn plaques are expected to be installed in late April or early May 2026, marking a significant milestone in the completion of the main cairn memorial. We will update you at each step to ensure you stay informed about these important developments.

There is still much to do at the memorial site to prepare for the upcoming Unveiling and Blessing ceremony by RAF Marham, a key milestone that I am working hard to achieve. I am excited to share these upcoming steps with you, and I know they'll make this event meaningful for everyone involved. 

To all the friends of the memorial and the dedicated sponsors, your ongoing support is vital. I truly appreciate your involvement and could not do this without you. Thank you, Chris Coverdale.

"I never forget why I am doing this memorial; it honours the Brave Bomber Boys and all who served at RAF Downham Market during 1942-1945, inspiring a shared sense of purpose and pride among supporters like you".

19 March 2026 airfield memorial cairn update

Work carried out at the memorial thanks to the kind support of material sponsors, Tillicoultry Quarries (Kings Lynn Division). HQ: RWM House, Kilbagie, Alloa, FK10 4DY.

Thanks to Tillicoultry Quarries ' material support, I can now finish off the Norfolk Flint Stone outer of the Airfield Cairn memorial. It is hard work, but the new memorial will look amazing. I'm back there working on  Sunday, 22 March 2026. This will allow me to complete the Flint Stone edging and start work on the Pathway to the left of the memorial, which will continue along and around the rear of the memorial to the rear centre, where the RAF Flagpole will be installed.

Once the construction of said Pathway is complete, I will high-pressure jet-wash the remaining runway area I managed to uncover earlier last year. (It is the only section of any of the three concrete ways left at the former airfield.