Ed Miliband has been accused of “desecrating” the memory of a heroic pilot after approving a solar farm over his resting place. The energy secretary gave the green light to the Sunnica Energy Farm in Isleham, Cambridgeshire, just three days after Labour came into power. On October 13, 1949, a US Air Force Boeing B-50 Superfortress, loaded with 16 500lb bombs, embarked on a practice flight to Heligoland, Germany from nearby RAF Lakenheath.
However, disaster struck shortly after take-off when a fire broke out on board. US pilot George Ingham, 27, had to either steer the plane away from Isleham, risking his and his crew’s lives, or eject and obliterate the village. Elderly locals recalled the bomber narrowly missing Isleham by just half a mile before crashing into a large field just outside the village in a “terrifying” explosion that blew out the windows of the local primary school.
Linda Dunbavin, 80, was only four when the plane went down, and accused Mr Miliband of wiping out the memory of the heroic men.
She was inside the school with her two sisters and three cousins at the time of the crash, and described hearing an “almighty bang”.
She told the Daily Mail: “We drove home and my grandmother was saying, ‘Oh my God, oh my God, a plane has gone down’.
“Those soldiers gave their lives to save our village and a whole generation of children. My grandfather went up there and saw bits of hands and feet all over the place. Ed Miliband is desecrating their blood and bones.”
David Brown, 89, was also inside the school when the bomber crashed. He said: “I’m not pleased about Sunnica building a solar farm over it. It is disrespectful to those men.”
Mr Miliband’s decision will also impact 11 other villages in Cambridgeshire and Suffolk, and was made despite a 2023 Planning Inspectorate report calling it “inappropriate” due to the potential of human remains still being in the field.
A Sunnica spokesperson said: “We undertook geophysical surveys which accurately confirmed the exact location of the crash impact crater.
“In recognition of the importance of the crash crater, we have proposed an exclusion zone around it where no development would occur.”
The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero stated: “We respect the significance this field holds for those in Isleham and the memory of those lost in the 1949 USAF crash.
“We support the developer’s commitment to honour them by creating a protected area around the site.”
