that if he bailed out, the plane would crash into Lambourn. He therefore remained at the controls to divert the aircraft and was killed when it crash-landed in a field on Folly Road at 10:45 pm, missing the village by a few hundred yards. Berkoff was awarded a posthumous Distinguished Flying Cross; a plaque in his honour was unveiled on 26 June 2003 by his great nephew, Todd Berkoff, at Lambourn Memorial Hall. 1953 lorry crash On Tuesday 13 April 1953 an articulated lorry carrying of aviation fuel suffered brake failure as it came down Hungerford Hill (now the B4000). Despite the best efforts of the driver, it hit several buildings before overturning on Oxford Street. The lorry exploded, destroying the tobacconist's, confectioner's, watchmaker's, jeweller's and antique dealer's shops, but only the driver was killed. The burning fuel set fire to three houses, two thatched cottages and several flats, and 37 people were made homeless. It also flowed down the street and into the River Lambourn and set fire to property up to 50 yards way until the Newbury, Hungerford, Wantage, Swindon and Faringdon fire brigades helped the local brigade quench the fire. 1971 lurcher show The first dog show for lurchers was held at Lambourn in 1971, which included dog racing and coursing. 1991 motorway crash At 14:15 hours on Wednesday 13 March 1991 there was a major crash on the M4 Motorway in the southernmost part of Lambourn between the Membury Service Station and Junction 14 on the eastbound carriageway. A van driver fell asleep at the wheel and stopped alongside the central crash barrier on the right hand (overtaking) lane. This obstruction was seen by the car behind him, which managed to change lanes and avoid contact. However, the cars behind were travelling at high speed (an average of ) in patchy fog and many were only one or two car lengths behind the vehicle in front. As a result, they had no time to avoid the van, crashed and spun out of control into the other lanes. Others took evasive action by driving onto the hard shoulder and up the sides of the cutting. These were followed by articulated lorries, one of which jack-knifed sideways across all three lanes of the motorway. One driver, Alan Bateman, managed to free himself from his car and ran back down the central reservation to warn others, but was ignored