Amazingly, for such a small village, there have been two plane crashes recorded. Well, not quite, since one was just over the border in Westley. More on that later. But let's deal with the one in 1980 when a Hawker Hunter T7 crashed into a field in Little Saxham.
On 29 May, the pilot, the sole airman in the two-seater fighter, had baled out over Barrow, but managed to point his stricken aircraft at open fields a mile or so south of Little Saxham church. It flew low over Lawners House and crashed on to the field beyond. Duncan Fearnley, then and now the farmer, recalls it well. "It destroyed three or four trees and left a fine mess in our field. We were picking up bits of plane for years afterwards."
The aircraft, no. XL597, was 21 years old, having first flown on 22 September 1958. It was one of a number of Hunters that crashed during the 70s and 80s.
The other plane crash happened during the Second World War. Whilst on a training mission in May 1944, a Lockheed P-38 Lightning aircraft, piloted by US Air Force Second Lt Ken Underwood, crashed in mysterious circumstances close to the border of Little Saxham and Westley. The following press cutting explains all: