A NEW memorial is now in place to commemorate the nine people who lost their lives when an RAF Halifax bomber crashed in Bournemouth 67 years ago.

The plane took off from Hurn Airport just after midnight on March 21, 1944, bound for the Mediterranean Allied Air Force base in Morocco.

But its engine failed almost immediately and it plunged to the ground in Moordown, killing all seven crew – and two civilians who had been asleep in their beds.

A service of dedication is being held at the corner of Wimborne Road and Meadow Court Close on Sunday at 4pm, when the brother and sister of two of the crew members and great-niece of one of the residents will unveil the memorial.

The two-piece granite plinth, inscribed with the names of the dead, will be dedicated by the Rev Colonel Steve Parselle, who was Army Chaplain to Bournemouth East MP Tobias Ellwood.

Mr Ellwood and his predecessor, David Atkinson, who designed the memorial, will also be there, along with Bournemouth Mayor Cllr Chris Rochester.

Among others planning to attend is local resident Graham Powell, whose older brother Gordon was a Halifax pilot in World War Two.

Flt Lt Powell was 21 when he was shot down and killed over Germany in March 1945. Mr Powell commissioned a painting of a Halifax as a tribute to his brother and will be taking it to the memorial. The ceremony is the culmination of two years work by the Moordown 2010 committee, established by ward councillor Sue Anderson to raise funds for a permanent memorial as close as possible to the crash site.