Roade D-Day 80th commemorations

Roade Local History Society (RLHS) created an exhibition for the event, detailing the lives of the men named on the village War memorial who died in WW2, together with a detailed account of villager Richard (Dick) Dyke who landed in a glider at Pegasus Bridge early on the morning of the 6th June.

This was firstly displayed at the Community Library then moved to be part of the Village D Day Commemoration event on the Thursday evening 6th June, at the Cripps Centre on Saturday for more villagers to see, and finally passed onto Elizabeth Woodville School for their History department to use, to ensure younger generations learn about the event. The exhibition was well received by all visitors.

The History Society also attended a small service at the War Memorial on the same evening, together with the Vicar Revd Mark Donnelly, Mick McCafferty and Anna Freund of the Roade British Legion, and the Deputy Lord Lieutenant of Northamptonshire Stuart Richmond Watson who laid a wreath.

At the Village event a bouquet was presented by the Deputy Lord Lieutenant to Elizabeth Dyke, Dick’s Dykes widow, who together with her sons Howard and Harvey had lent items to the exhibition.

On 29th June 2024 a small wreath laying ceremony will be held at 5.20pm at the Canadian memorial on Memorial Green, to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the loss of a Canadian Air Force Wellington Bomber, which disintegrated over Roade following a lightning strike, which sadly killed all 6 Canadian airmen. A small exhibition will also be placed in the RLHS cabinet at the Community Library with details of the young men involved.