CONTRIBUTIONS are pouring into the Hereford Times appeal to create a tribute to wartime scientist Alan Blumlein.

We have received donations large and small since we launched our campaign during Remembrance week last year.

Now we are within sight of reaching our target of raising £5,000 for a permanent memorial Mr Blumlein, whose contribution to the Allied victory over the Nazis in World War II was immense.

He had been in a Halifax bomber that had been converted in a flying laboratory for tests on top-secret radar technology when it caught fire at 15,000ft and plunged to earth. Blumlein and all the other 10 passengers and crew, including five other scientists were killed when it crashed on the banks of the river Wye at Welsh Bicknor, Herefordshire, in 1942.

Blumlein’s immense contribution to the war effort, as well as his development of stereo sound and other technical innovations, was hushed up after his death on the orders of Prime Minister Winston Churchill.

He perhaps felt the loss of such an important scientist would give succour to the Nazis as they plotted their conquest of Europe.

So while the contributions of other Second World War boffins such as Alan Turing (who helped crack the Nazis’ Enigma code) and radar pioneer Sir Bernard Lovell have been lauded, Blumlein’s role has been largely overlooked.

The Hereford Times has been appealing to our readers to help us correct this injustice and pay tribute to his memory, and the others who died with him.

We plan a permanent memorial to Blumlein and his colleagues in the form of a metal plaque mounted on a plinth near a riverside path overlooking the site of the tragedy.

Our appeal has the support of the Blumlein family and Jerome Vaughan, on whose land the memorial will be placed. It is being spearheaded by Garth Lawson, the Hereford Times walks writer, who has long believed a tribute to Blumlein was overdue.

HOW TO CONTRIBUTE

All you have to do is visit www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/glawson to contribute online.

Alternatively, cheques made payable to the Hereford Times Blumlein Memorial Appeal can be handed in or posted (c/o Garth Lawson) to the Hereford Times office, Holmer Road, Hereford HR4 9UJ.