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RAF Benson AC/2 Howse

The memorial at the Church of the Ascension, RAF Benson, Wallingford, south Oxfordshire to Aircraftman 2nd Class Kenneth Howse is in a patio area at the side of the church behind the war time station bell. It is a stone memorial in the form of an open book, and is inscribed with black lettering. It stands beside WM704.

In November 2001 War Memorials Trust gave £75 towards work to clean the memorial, re-face the inscriptions and re-cut and paint new lettering.

Both this memorial and WM704 originally stood in the churchyard of St. Helen’s church in the village of Benson, at the foot of the Chilterns. They were in a very bad state of repair and were due to be destroyed, but permission was given for them to be removed if a new home was found for them.

AC/2 Kenneth William Howse of 355 Squadron, RAF, had been a carpenter in civilian life, and lived in Wallingford. In April 1944 he was in Salboni, east India and on the night of 7th April a Liberator aircraft caught fire on the ground while refuelling prior to operations, resulting in fatal injuries to AC/2 Howse. He is buried at Ranchi War Cemetery in India. The inscription on his memorial reads

To                             Kenneth
the memory of             Howse
my darling                   who died in
husband                     India
                                April 1944
                                aged 23

His wife, who gave the memorial, was Adelene Howse.

After repair work the memorial was moved to RAF Benson and rededicated at a service in front of a dozen people on 11th November 2001. A niece of AC/2 Howse was traced but was unable to attend the service.

Further information

War Memorials Trust reference WM3514
UK National Inventory of War Memorials: Unknown

If you have a concern about this memorial please contact the Trust on conservation@warmemorials.org

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