Lancaster LL956 CF-Q (Queenie)

Lancaster LL956 Mk I CF-Q (Queenie) Memorial Service

Background

On October 14, 1944, Lancaster LL956 took off at 06:28 from the Kelstern Station on a sortie to Duisburg, Germany.  F/O Lloyd Hannah was confronted with an engine fire on the takeoff roll beyond the abort speed.  He had six minutes to gain sufficient altitude for the crew to bale out and then the aircraft crashed at 06:34 into a farmer's field near the Village of Little Grimsby.  Hannah managed to keep the aircraft under control to allow the crew to bail out and to steer the aircraft away from the Village.  Lloyd Bennett was able to bail out along with the other crew members but he was killed when his parachute failed to deploy.  For more information about this loss, please visit the Aircrew Remembered Archive Report for LL956.

Of the eight air crew on board the aircraft, two air crew members were killed:

• F/O Lloyd Hannah, Pilot, RCAF

• F/Sgt Lloyd Bennett, Bomb Aimer, RCAF.  

Memorial Service Details

The annual "Q for Queenie" Memorial Service will be held on Sunday, October 11, 2026 at St. Edith's Church in Little Grimsby, Lincolnshire.  The service will commence at 5:00 p.m.  All are welcome.

Registration for 625 Squadron Memorial Service, Memorial Luncheon and Q-Queenie Memorial Service

This year, a new tool has been created to help manage the attendance at the memorial services and 625 Squadron Memorial Luncheon.  If you want to attend the Memorial Luncheon, the tool should be used to place your menu selections.  The cost for the luncheon is £35 per person.   After you click the Submit button at the end of the tool, you will receive a confirmation sent to you email address.  The confirmation will provide the deadline date for payment and instructions about how the payment must be made.  The tool is very user friendly and will help simply the whole process.

Please click here to launch the Registration and Menu Selection Tool.  The number of individuals that have confirmed their attendance at the memorial services and the luncheon can be viewed below.  The deadline for confirming your attendance at the Luncheon and making payment is September 15, 2026.

We look forward to seeing you at these important events honouring members of 625 Squadron.