The Bomber Oak, which stands proudly on former Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Rutland County Chair Andrew Brown’s farm in Rutland, is one of ten remarkable trees shortlisted for this year’s competition.
Now it’s the public’s turn to vote for their favourite and help crown the Woodland Trust’s Tree of the Year 2026 winner.
The 180-year-old specimen has an amazing and tragic survival story to tell. Its top was taken clean off after a World War II bomber containing Australian airmen hit it following a training flight engine failure.
It crashed soon after, claiming the lives of two men, with five survivors.
“My grandfather, Walter, kept a war diary and there is an entry on Monday, 30 April 1945 which states: ‘Found plane had crashed through top of oak tree in Big Meadow’. It came days after another plane had crashed on our land and a few days later a glider crash landed in the same field with two Jeeps in it.”
More recently, it survived an attempt by a water company to install pipes through the field, eventually quelled after objections by Andrew and supportive locals.
Voting is open until 5pm on 29 September with the winner announced in October.
Visit the Woodland Trust’s website to vote.
“To be shortlisted for this competition is a fitting tribute to those brave people in Bomber Command, and to the Australian airmen who travelled halfway across the world, who lost their lives to keep us safe from the Nazis."
Andrew Brown