Ceremony to mark the Unveiling of the Fauld Explosion Memorial

Description:Officers from the Aeronautica Militare (Italian Air Force) and the RAF accompany priests and civilians at a special remembrance service that marked the unveiling of the memorial, erected at the edge of the quarter-mile-wide crater left by the explosion.

Six Italian co-operators were amongst the 70 people killed in the explosion at the RAF Fauld bomb store, the largest accidental explosion of World War 2 and the largest to date in the UK. Other attendees at the service included relatives of those killed, alongside local people from Hanbury and Tutbury who had experienced the disaster.

The officer standing at the right edge of the photograph, making an address into the microphone, is Angelo Cusumano, of the Aeronautica Militare (Italian Air Force), who was based at No.16 MU RAF Stafford in a liaison role and who played a key role in the creation of the memorial. The memorial stone itself was donated from Italy through the the Italian Air Force Supply Depot at Novara, which was twinned with RAF Stafford. Signor Cusumano was involved in the organization of the unveiling ceremony and other official events at RAF Stafford.

Signor Cusumano recalls that an RAF Squadron Leader based at Stafford first involved him personally in the Fauld Memorial project and that Flight Lieutenant Paul Cannock held, on the British side, essentially the same liaison role based in Novara, Italy. Flight Lieutenant Cannock was involved in following the transport of the memorial stone from Italy, which was transported to Britain aboard an RAF C-130.

At the end of the memorial ceremony, Signor Cusumano was interviewed by a local radio station. Unfortunately, he no longer remembers its name, or whether it was actually based in Stafford. He remembers that the report was broadcast the following morning at around 7 a.m., and that he listened to it while getting ready for the day.

This image is kindly shared by permission of Signor Angelo Cusumano and the Cusumano family collection.