When the airfield closed in 1980 a small band of people from the local area pulled together to fund and build a memorial to its history and the many people who had served here.

Flt. Lt. Dennis Hart, left , was instrumental in bringing this about and the memorial was dedicated in June 1982 as the final pieces of the airfield were being dismantled. Its simple construction has a large piece of Purbeck stone mounted on a fragment from one of the concrete runways. Three brass plaques record the story while a Horsa glider is carved into the stone face.

Since the opening ceremony in 1982, top picture, annual memorial services have been held to celebrate the achievements and remember those who did not return from wartime operations that started from here. The photograph far right is from the service in 2014 to mark the 70th anniversary of the Normandy landings.

Less formal events often take place with relatives of those who served making their personal contributions to keeping the memory of Tarrant Rushton alive.

Our group is simply the latest to take up the challenge of maintaining the memorial and keeping the memories alive through events an publicity of what happened here at Tarrant Rushton.