Bury St Edmunds Rugby Club community to take on 354-mile cycle ride to mark 50th anniversary of plane crash tragedy
The rugby club community in Bury St Edmunds is uniting to commemorate the 50th anniversary of a tragic plane crash that claimed the lives of 18 club members.
Participants are preparing for a 354-mile cycle ride from France to Bury to remember the victims of what was then the world’s deadliest air disaster which killed 346 people in 1974.
This included 18 players, staff and colleagues from the club, leaving a deep scar on the Bury community with 10 widows, 21 children who lost their fathers and countless grieving parents, siblings, and friends.
Austin Cornish, who was just three years old when his father Laurie died in the incident, became deeply involved with the club – playing for different teams and coaching his son’s team.
Now, 50 years since the tragedy, Austin and other community members will once again cycle from the crash site in France back home to honour those who died while raising funds for St Nicholas Hospice Care and Bury St Edmunds Rugby Club.
He said: “I was three when my father died in the crash, so I don’t remember much about the actual incident itself, but I just remember the massive impact it had on the community here in Bury."
"There wasn’t an anniversary after 10 years because it was still considered too soon — it was still too fresh in everyone’s minds.
“It’s just a real community thing and everyone is back for the ride and doing it for the right reasons.”
He organised a memorial cycle ride in 2014 to mark the 40th anniversary since the crash which raised £157,000 for charity.
Participants from as far away as New Zealand and San Diego will be taking part in this year’s commemorative cycle ride which starts on Tuesday, September 10.
Over six days, cyclists will cover 354 miles from Ermenonville Forest, near Paris, to Nowton Park in Bury with a police escort for their arrival back home.
The ride’s main sponsors are Greene and Greene Solicitors, Greene King, St Edmundsbury Wealth Management Ltd and Boortmalt and for more details on the route, click here.
On March 3, 1974, the Bury rugby team were returning from watching a Five Nations match between England and France when the catastrophic failure occurred shortly after take-off.
As their flight home was postponed due to a two-day strike at Heathrow, the 18 club members decided to take an earlier flight on a Turkish Airlines DC-10.
A faulty cargo door on the plane led to explosive decompression, causing the plane to crash into Ermenonville Forest in France - leaving no survivors.
The victims were buried in a mass grave in the forest where a stone monument stands in tribute to those who died.
“We had quite an emotional service at the monument last time,” Austin said. “And I know we will do again this time.
“It’s all about just remembering why we’re doing it after all these years and trying our best to raise some money for charity.”
The campaign has raised £28,076 so far and you can donate by clicking here.
The funds raised will be split between the rugby club and the hospice charity, with 60 per cent of the amount raised going towards the development of a new all-weather pitch for all age groups.
