Blue plaque for 1940 Thatcham bombing victim returns

A heritage blue plaque is now back where it belongs.

Thatcham Town Council has today (Thursday) returned its fifth blue plaque to the spot where it was unveiled at 141 Station Road after taking this down for repair work in March.

The plaque – dedicated to the only fatality of Thatcham’s blitz of 1940 – had begun to warp.

It was returned to the supplier, who said a manufacturing fault was responsible, the council confirmed.

It has now been repaired at no additional cost and returned to its rightful place.

Lt Col Urquhart was the commanding officer of the former Thatcham Army Ordnance Depot, which supplied air bases all over the country in the Second World War and later periods.

But he was killed in an air raid on Thatcham on the night of August 16, 1940, while standing in his front garden.

Members of the town council’s Heritage Working Party unveiled a plaque in his memory at a service held in October 2022.