A MEMORIAL to thousands of people involved in top secret work during the Second World War is due to be unveiled in a small corner of Worcestershire.

RAF Defford Reunion Association has been working for years to establish the granite and stone memorial, which will be officially unveiled on Tuesday, September 10, on the village green.

It will commemorate the tragic loss of life suffered by the little known Telecommunications Flying Unit (TFU), which was moved to Defford in 1942.

It had close ties with the Telecommunications Research Establishment (TRE), based at Malvern, and between them they developed a revolutionary type of radar.

"Radar was the secret weapon where Britain led the world," explained Graham Evans, clerk to Defford and Besford Parish Council.

"This is a realisation of a dream for the Reunion Association and for myself. There's been a tremendous amount of hard work to get the project off the ground and a long delay when there was opposition to the original design, which featured a lot of stainless steel."

The memorial will mark the importance and debt the nation owed to such brilliant men, explained Mr Evans, who has helped co-ordinate the project.

Sixty years later, people still do not realise how important radar was to the nation, he said.

"Hopefully, when the memorial is unveiled it will go some way to record the momentous achievements which took place in this remote corner of Worcestershire," he added.

The £2,000 memorial will be unveiled by Sir Bernard Lovell, of the TRE, who will record the sacrifices made by his former colleagues.

It has been funded thanks by a £500 windfall from Wychavon District Council and individual donations. A model of the memorial has been exhibited at various fetes and air shows to raise funds.

The whole wartime operation was closely guarded. By 1945 there were more than 2,000 personnel daily entering the airfield, but very few actually knew anything about the equipment they were working on.

Inevitably there were accidents, and a Wellington crash-landed in front of Croome Court, having failed shortly after take-off.

For details of the occasion, contact Mr Evans on 01684 295327.