In August 1961
a plane crashed in Stavanger,
Norway.
Two teachers and 34 pupils
from Lanfranc Boys' School
were on board.
No-one survived.

After the shock of the crash,
there was a need to remember.
This plate was given to the School
by Stavanger Red Cross
in 1963.

Malcolm recalls the aftermath
of the Lanfranc plane crash:

"I was in bed
and my mother brought up the paper
and I can recall breaking down in tears
because they were all classmates,
lads that you done a lot with,
and the masters - well,
they were the best two masters going.
It wasn't a school day
but a lot of people
just turned up at the school
with flowers
and I also recall people
just standing around,
stunned.
It took a long time really to sink in."

In August 1961
a plane crashed in Stavanger,
Norway.
Two teachers and 34 pupils
from Lanfranc Boys' School,
Mitcham Road,
lost their lives.
At the time,
it was the largest number of children
ever to be killed in a plane crash.
Croydon was shaken and hurt
by the scale of the disaster.

34 of the 36 Lanfranc dead
were buried in a communal grave
at Mitcham Road cemetery.
Within a week
over 100,000 mourners visited.

We are working hard to write
an ‘Explore’ page for every object
in the Museum of Croydon.

If you would like to suggest
a visit, website or book
which would help people
find out more about this object
then please contact us:

Museum of Croydon
Croydon Clocktower
Katharine Street
Croydon
CR9 1ET
Tel: 020 8253 1022
Email: museum@croydon.gov.uk