Standing proudly in a family-owned field in Rutland, an oak tree that was once nearly obliterated by a wartime plane crash has returned to life and is now competing for a prestigious national title. The Bomber Oak, as it has become known, was hit by a World War II Lancaster bomber in 1945 but survived the incident, despite losing the top half of its canopy. Today, it carries the scars of the collision: a dip in its foliage and a central set of branches that twist and turn in what appears to be a desperate reshaping effort.
On 26 April 1945, a Lancaster bomber carrying seven men, including POWs being repatriated, struck the top of the oak in mid-flight. The impact cleanly sliced the tree in half, yet it managed to continue forward for miles before crashing, killing five of the seven crew. The tree, undeterred, regrew over the decades and now stands as a resilient symbol of survival. The family that has owned the field since the tree's childhood has become its staunchest defenders, having thwarted a water company's attempt to install pipes through the property in more recent times.
Other Trees That Defied the Odds
The Bomber Oak is not the only entrant in the contest with an improbable story. The Crowhurst Yew in East Sussex, believed to be over 4,000 years old, was struck by a cannonball during the English Civil War. Remarkably, the yew was hollowed out in the 1820s to form a makeshift parish room that even housed a door and furniture before its roof collapsed in a storm in 1845. Still, the tree endured and stands today in a churchyard, continuing to tell its story.
Among the other nominees are a birch clinging to a cliff in Durham, a yew at the top of a Devon church tower, and an oak in Dumfries and Galloway that withstood a direct lightning strike. A centuries-old elm in Brighton called the Preston Twin has survived Dutch elm disease, while a fourth tree, a downy birch, grows in a place where most would find it impossible to take root.
In addition to the trees chosen by an expert panel, the competition features two public wildcard nominations. One is the Wales Coast Path Oak, a hardy tree in Ceredigion that endures storms, drought, and grazing animals while providing shelter to hikers. The other is the Balloch Castle ash, which now stands alone on a neglected castle lawn beside Loch Lomond.
According to May Chemais, who curates the Ancient Tree Inventory for the Woodland Trust, these trees highlight the remarkable adaptability of some species, particularly the yew, which can reconstruct its internal structures to stay alive. David Oakes, a celebrity ambassador for the trust, noted that trees, unlike many other living beings, cannot flee danger. Instead, they endure through sheer resilience.
The public vote is open until late September, with the winner to be announced in the autumn. The winning tree will then represent the UK in the European Tree of the Year contest.