entry-header-waves

Community

Blaze Signs gift memorial plaque to Westgate-on-Sea Council

New memorial plaque dedicated to Liberator B-24s

Social sustainability at Blaze Signs

We employ a substantial amount of people from the Thanet area, with over 180 people working in our Broadstairs factory and office facilities. This is why charity work and ‘giving back to the local community’ in which we thrive is critical to the social sustainability of Blaze Signs, and a great way to do this is by doing what we do best, make signs!

 

The Liberator B-24 Bomber memorial

 

Overlooking the Westgate Bay and the Westgate Esplanade Walking Trail, this memorial is located on the northern end of the town – Westgate-on-Sea. The site itself is a memorial to the two American B-24 Liberators that crash in Westgate-on-Sea and the nearby town of Margate.

 

The tragedies, both of which occurred on the 27th of April, 1944, happened as two mission-damaged aircraft of the United States Arm Air Force (USAAF) returned from different pre-D-Day Raids over France. They attempted to make emergency landings at RAF Manston but crashed as night fell along the Thanet Coast within the same hour of each other. This memorial serves as a tribute to all allied pilots and crew, who gave their lives in the Second World War in the struggle against fascism.

 

You can learn more about this memorial on the US War Memorials website, linked below:

 

https://www.uswarmemorials.org/html/site_details.php?SiteID=1896

 

Blaze Signs are here to help

 

The original memorial plaque – which had been dedicated by the Margate Charter Trustees on 28th of April 2010 – was beginning to show its age after 12 years of service, and it was clear that it needed a replacement, so the text was properly legible once more and thus allowing visitors to understand the history of this site.

Original Westgate-on-Sea memorial plaque atop the cliff face

Blaze Signs offered their services to the Westgate-on-Sea Town Council to reinvigorate the memorial plaque, with a new sign provided free-of-charge to the local community.

 

The sign itself is simple, with the main panel made from clear Perspex/acrylic, with a digitally printed graphic design applied to the rear of the sheet in order to protect it. The rest of the sign is made up from mild steel, including the frame around the edge of the plaque, and the legs that allow it to stand tall and withstand the changeable weather conditions atop the cliff face.

, Close up view of memorial plaque in Westgate-on-Sea

Thank you to the Westgate-on-Sea Town Council for allowing us to provide our services for a great cause, we’re proud to say that we helped transform this memorial plaque, bringing it to a standard that it deserves!