Royal British Legion president hands over £3,000 to Greenham Parish Council for American memorial upkeep

A woman who raised more than £20,000 to move a memorial to Greenham Common handed over the remainder of the money to Greenham Parish Council last week so that the memorial can be maintained in the future.

Janine Westropp, 85, presented a cheque for £3,107.16 to members of the parish council on Wednesday, May 11, to help the council maintain the American memorial now sited at the Greenham Common Control Tower.

Mrs Westropp, who is the president of the Newbury branch of the Royal British Legion, raised the funds to move the memorial from Greenham Business Park to outside the control tower, so that it would be in a more prominent place within the community.

Greenham Parish Council chairman Steve Jones said: “If it hadn’t been for Janine’s enthusiasm and drive to get it moved, I don’t think it would have been. She should be taking a lot of pride in getting the memorial moved there.

“The memorial provides a focal point for the community where everybody can come and pay tribute to the people that died.”

The memorial honours all United States servicemen who died in the Second World War, but it also marks two tragedies that occurred at the Greenham airbase.

Thirty-one paratroopers and two pilots from the 17th Airborne Division were killed when their Horsa glider crashed shortly after take-off from the airbase on December 12, 1944.

Three days later, 16 men were killed when two B-17 Flying Fortresses from the 306th bombardment group collided above the common.

Mrs Westropp raised the funds to move the memorial in honour of her late husband, Lieutenant Colonel Michael Westropp, who was the Newbury president of the Royal British Legion for ten years before he died in 2019. There is also a memorial plaque dedicated to him by the control tower.

Mrs Westropp said: “We really appreciated all the wonderful support that we had which enabled the memorial to come up from Greenham Business Park to the control tower.

“It was just incredible. I couldn’t believe when [the donations] kept coming. It was so exciting. I am extremely grateful for the support from everybody.”

Mrs Westropp managed to raise the £20,000 sum in just five months by reaching out to friends and businesses in the area. All donations were match funded by Greenham Trust, which owns the memorial.

Newbury club secretary of the Royal British Legion Keith Williams, who initially came up with the plan to move the memorial, said: “It was a marvellous effort. She did exceedingly well.”

Mrs Westropp raised the money independent of the Legion, and decided she would give the remainder of the donations to Greenham Parish Council for future maintenance.

The council fully supported her plans, and it was happy to take on the duty of maintaining the memorial for future generations to pay tribute.