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Image shows the plaque on the statue dedicated to Arthur Aaron VC (Victoria Cross). The statue, sculpted in Bronze by Barnsley born sculptor, Graham Ibbeson, is mounted on this brick built base on the roundabout at the bottom of Eastgate. The inscription reads 'Arthur Aaron VC 1922-1943 For Our Tomorrow He Gave His Today'. On the night of 12th August 1943, despite suffering wounds, Flight Sergeant Aaron flew his crew in the severely damaged Stirling all the way from Turin across the Mediterranean to Bone in Algeria. After crash landing the plane he was pulled from the wreckage and admitted to the station hospital where he later died. He was interred in the Commonwealth war cemetery at Bone. Flight Sergeant Aaron was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross and the Distinguished Flying Medal. His parents presented his medals to the City of Leeds in 1947 and they are now displayed in a glass case in Leeds City Museum. The statue of Gledhow born Arthur Aaron was fittingley unveiled by the last surviving member of his crew, Malcolm Mitchem, from Andover in Hampshire, on 24th March 2001. He had also been awarded the Distinguished Flying Medal. | License: | http://www.leodis.net/article.aspx?id=12 | Rights holder: | Leeds Central Library | Subjects: | Eastgate statue Arthur Aaron war | Source: | Leodis - A photographic archive of Leeds | Identifier: | http://www.leodis.net/display.aspx?id=20... | Go to resource |
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