Publications
The Day Wadhurst Changed - Friday 20th January 1956, by Michael Harte, Rachel Ring and Heather Woodward, published 11 May 2006 (164 pp., Wadhurst History Society & printed at Greenman Enterprise, Wadhurst, ISBN-10: 0954580222 & ISBN-13: 9780954580223) accessible at: Wadhurst History Society & East Sussex Libraries
Abstract:The book, with 85 illustrations - most not published before - sets the scene of life in England and in Wadhurst just before the crash; then follow details from the official records of what happened on Friday 20th January 1956 and personal recollections from many of those who were there on that afternoon. Personal memories of events in the week after the crash are followed by an analysis of the RAF Court of Inquiry and other official reports produced in the weeks after the accident. The book then examines the delays in rebuilding the High Street and the decisions taken by the local authorities involved. The book closes with an analysis of the press and other media response to the event, of the research undertaken by the authors and, as a final note, of the miracles that saved Wadhurst from what could - if events had happened differently - have been a tragedy of epic proportions with a heavy loss of life and the destruction of much more than three buildings in the High Street: Wadhurst might almost have died.