Pub named after Second World War pilot on spot where he was shot down

 

A pub is to be named after Sergeant Noble 

Sunday April 8,2012

By Richard Creasy 

 DENNIS NOBLE was 20 when his Hurricane fighter was shot down at the height of the Battle of Britain. Now, more than 70 years later, a pub named after him has opened on the spot where his plane crashed.

The name Noble House was chosen as a tribute to the young pilot killed during the Second World War.

Even the beer taps will feature the clean-cut face of Sergeant Noble, who had been with his squadron for just 27 days when he was shot down by a German Messerschmitt in August 1940.

His plane nose-dived into a pavement in Hove, ­Sussex, where the new pub opened this weekend with a large painting of the pilot above the bar.

Joint landlord Peter Wilson said: “It is great that in this day and age people still want to remember men like Dennis who was so young when he died. We could have chosen some trendy modern name but no one wanted that. We canvassed opinion and it was unanimously in favour of honouring him.”

Sergeant Noble was working in a London radio shop and serving with the Auxiliary Air Force when war broke out. The crash left a 15ft deep crater in the road. Because of difficulties retrieving his body, the hole was simply filled in and his remains were retrieved only after an excavation in 1996.

He was buried in his home town of Retford, Nottinghamshire, but people living near the crash site still feel a close affinity with the pilot.

Aviation historian Keith Arnold, who led the excavation, said: “The people in the area have really taken Dennis to their hearts. This is a wonderful gesture to name the pub after him.”

Source:   http://www.express.co.uk

Seventy-two years after a Second World War pilot was shot down over Sussex, a pub has been named after him on the very spot where the plane crashed.

Noble House has been named in honor of Sergeant Dennis Noble, who was just 20 when he was killed during the Battle of Britain.

His Hurricane fighter plane plummeted into a street in Hove, Sussex, where the new pub opened this weekend.

Above the bar hangs a large painting of the hero pilot and even the beer taps will feature the face of the sergeant.

Sergeant Noble, who joined the squadron just 27 days before his death, was taken out by a German Messerchmitt in August 1940.

Peter Wilson, joint landlord, told the Sunday Express: 'It is great that in this day and age people still want to remember men like Dennis who was so young when he died.

'We could have chosen some trendy modern name but no one wanted that.'

Sergeant Noble was working in a radio shop in London when war broke out but served with the Auxiliary Air Force.

The plane hit the ground with such force, it left a 15ft crater in the road.

Due to difficulties recovering his body, the hole had to be filled before it could be removed.

It was only in 1996 that his remains were finally excavated and buried in his home town of Retford, Nottinghamshire.

Keith Arnold, aviation historian, said: 'The people in the area have really taken Dennis to their hearts.'

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