Husborne Crawley Parish Council have set up a splendid memorial to the crew of an RAF bomber which crashed in a field on the west side of Horsepool Lane on 9th September 1941. The plaque reveals that Sergeant Fred Rowney, aged 28 and Flight Sergeant Tony Barker aged 20 were both killed. Two others members of the crew survived by bailing out.  Sergeant Rowney, a member of 50 Squadron was buried in his native place, Arley in Warwickshire and Flight Sergeant Barker at Mansfield in Nottinghamshire.

The aircraft involved was a Handley Page Hampden [WW2/AR/CO 2/3]a medium bomber which was obsolete by that stage of the war. The local Senior Air Raid Precautions Warden was congratulated for the promptness with which he reported the incident at Horsepool Lane [WW2/AR/C 3/30]. The ARP post in Husborne Crawley was at the butcher's shop adjoining the White Horse public house [WW2/AR/C 2/234].

This was not the only aircraft to crash in Husborne Crawley during the war. On 22nd January 1945 an RAF Bristol Beaufighter crashed at Mill Road, injuring the crew. The Beaufighter was a very effective and versatile aircraft, used for anti-shipping strikes, bombing, ground attack and night fighting.