Travelling across the world to remember great grandad

A woman has travelled more than 7,000 miles (11,265km) to attend a World War Two memorial ceremony.

Camille Dahmen works and studies in Hawaii but travelled to Newbury, Berkshire, for a ceremony marking the 80th anniversary of the plane crash that killed her great grandfather.

A service for those who served at Greenham Common during the war is held every year.

Ms Dahmen's passion for history was ignited when she first attended the ceremony 16 years ago, and, now studying a masters in library and information science, she returned for Thursday's memorial.

Ms Dahmen's great grandfather 2nd Lt Charles A. Crooks died on 15 December 1944 when two B-17s collided in bad weather and low cloud over Greenham Common.

Six weeks later, his wife Bettie gave birth to their daughter Christina - Ms Dahmen's grandmother.

Bettie later married an American animal nutritionist, Dr James C. Nofziger, and Ms Dahmen grew up in Los Angeles.

She said she attended the memorial in 2008 and left determined to study history.

"I was determined to get the best job and the best opportunity and to work with collections, especially regarding World War Two," she said.

"This is something that has been part of my soul from the moment I can remember anything... but it truly manifested when I came here."

She said she also owed her fascination with history to her family.

"They are such historians, they are such storytellers," she said.

"How could I not be interested in all of this?"

The events at Greenham Common were a mystery until recently, according to amateur historian Paul Hilton.

He said he first heard about the B-17 Greenham Common crash in the 1990s, but it took him eight years to find the accident report.

"The families didn't know what actually happened, they just know that their family was killed," he said.

Fast forward more than a decade, and a ceremony is now held every year, and the memorial was dedicated by Princess Anne.

"I was just doing a bit of aviation history," said Mr Hilton.

"[I'm] amazed what actually came of [it]."

Ms Dahmen, who is now the age her great grandfather was when he died, said she knew how lucky she was to know what had happened to him.

"I've talked to many, many individuals who do not know where their loved ones are, they are still missing in action," she said.

"I'm so very, very grateful to know where my great grandfather was, what happened to him."

Ms Dahmen said returning for the memorial felt like a "full circle" moment.

"Everything that inspires me in my day-to-day life is my family and my family history, so to make the trip was an absolute must," she said.

And she said it meant a lot to her family, too - in particular her grandmother.

"I'm at the age now where I can actually understand the weight of losing a parent that you never knew," she said.

"I know that it meant so much to her heart and her soul... for me to be here on the 80th anniversary, 16 years later, doing what I do in life, I cannot even express into words how grateful I am - how much I hope my great grandfather Charlie is looking down on us."

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