AS the crowd stood in silence, the sound of a lone bugle

rang out across a Derby park in memory of a war hero who so

nearly went unrecognised.

With military standards respectfully lowered, and the hands

of RAF officers raised in salute, The Last Post was played for

Aston Maurice Cooper-Key.

Sixty-eight years earlier, the 21-year-old pilot was flying

a Hurricane fighter when its engine failed and he tried to land

in a Normanton park.

But when he spotted a group of boys playing there, he

changed course, crashed into a nearby railway embankment and

died.

One of those boys was Dennis Tunnicliffe. And yesterday, the

76-year-old gave thanks as he laid a wreath of red, white and

blue flowers at the start of the memorial service he had longed

for.

Mr Tunnicliffe, of Matlock Road, Chaddesden, appealed

through the Evening Telegraph in May for a ceremony to be held,

after reading a book that identified the pilot.

He said he never expected so many people to join him for

yesterday's service, at Sherwood Recreation Ground, off

Osmaston Park Road, close to the site where the pilot

crashed.

Mr Tunnicliffe said: “By chance, I picked up a book from the

library and in it I saw an article that I didn't know existed

about the crash.

“I contacted the Telegraph because I needed a bit of help

organising a service.

“I couldn't have done it without the newspaper, which I'm

very grateful for.

“After the story appeared in print, my phone never stopped

ringing as different people called to tell me they had

witnessed the crash too.

“It was a tragic story but nice that it ended up with a day

like this, commemorating his brave act.”

A minibus full of people from RAF Digby, in Lincolnshire,

where pilot officer Cooper-Key was stationed, came to Derby for

the ceremony.

Padre Mark Kennard led the crowd, several of whom had

witnessed the crash, in a prayer before reflecting on the

heroic sacrifice made by the pilot.

He said: “We stand in amazement because he would only have

had a split second to take action.

“He laid down his life defending his country, in order that

we might have our freedom.

“How appropriate that we meet in a park to remember that

very brave man while children play in the background.”

Representatives from the Derbyshire British Legion brought

the standards of two ex-service associations to the ceremony

and raised them either side of Padre Kennard as he spoke.

Bernard Page, chairman of the Derbyshire legion, said: “The

service was simple but very apt.”

Warrant Officer David Harrington, who works in the museum at

RAF Digby, spent weeks researching the career of pilot officer

Cooper-Key and putting together an information booklet.

As members of the public assembled, he gave them copies of

the log containing details of the tragic flight.

Officer Harrington said: “We started to build up a story

that we didn't know had existed.

“It is important to the RAF that we maintain the memory of

people who have flown in previous battles, and the service was

all about doing that.”

Pilot officer Cooper-Key was engaged in an anti-aircraft

exercise, near Rolls-Royce, when his engine failed.

He had been posted to RAF Digby little more than a month

before he died and was buried at nearby Scopwick cemetery.

Among those who also witnessed the crash were Dorothy Hill,

85, of Allestree, and Eric Richards, 86, of Millbrook Avenue,

Belper.

They shared their memories with Derby's deputy mayor,

Councillor Sean Marshall, following the service.

Mr Marshall said: “It's been fantastic speaking to people

who saw what happened.

“The pilot was only 21, a child, when he died. What a brave

act.”

Peter Kirk and Peter Felix spent 25 years researching and

writing The Bombing of Rolls-Royce at Derby – the book which

brought Mr Tunnicliffe's memories flooding back.

Mr Kirk said: “We inadvertently triggered this off.

“It's ironic, really, as we only put the details of this

flight, which wasn't directly linked to the bombing, in the

book because we couldn't think of any other way to get the

story across to people. And it did just that.”

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