BERINSFIELD'S war memorial, featuring an eye-catching propeller, has been refurbished thanks to personnel at helicopter base RAF Benson.

When they were completing the work they discovered a time capsule hidden inside and added some new information.

The memorial, which has stood in Wimblestraw Road since 1985, features the propeller of a Lockheed P-38 Lightning.

It honours those who served with the 7th Photo Group USAAF during the Second World War at RAF Mount Farm, where the village of Berinsfield is now located.

Residents and veterans in the area noticed that the propeller needed to restored and the air base's Warrant Officer Roy Woodruff agreed to help.

He arranged for personnel from the station, which used RAF Mount Farm as a satellite airfield for Photographic Reconnaissance Unit missions, to dismantle the propeller and take it to the station.

Sergeant Dan Toole, who took on the project of returning the propeller, said: "I was initially on the removal team with Warrant Officer Woodruff and when he left the Service he handed on the project to me.

"I had to coordinate all the different elements we received from the paint shop and put a small team together to reassemble the memorial.

The local community support RAF Benson in everything they do and treat our servicemen and women very well so it’s nice to be able to give something back to the community."

Contractors in the station’s paint shop, who are normally responsible for painting Puma and Chinook helicopters, then completed the refurbishment.

With operations taking priority there was a slight delay in returning the propeller, but on Wednesday villagers and veterans gathered to welcome it home.

Staff were surprised to find a small time capsule hidden inside that gave details of the propeller and the work that was undertaken to install the memorial.

The RAF Benson team ensured that future generations understood how important the memorial was by adding details of the refurbishment work before slotting the capsule back into place.

Chairman of Berinsfield Parish Council Ken Hall was one of the original team involved in the creation of the memorial.

He said: "I was here before the memorial came and I arranged where it would be – it’s where the officers’ quarters were when this was RAF Mount Farm.

"When the memorial was put in place we had 48 US servicemen come over, those who had served here, but unfortunately they’re all gone now.

"I can’t tell you how proud I am. Thank you very much to the RAF for all they’ve done."

The ceremony began with a short service led by curate Jon Roberts, from St Mary and St Berin Church in Berinsfield.

He said: "This is a very important place for this community and many of the surrounding communities.

"It’s a place where we can come together to remember both those from these communities who went and fought and those who became part of our communities during that time of conflict."