Sunday Times Where Was I? Holiday Competition

Near as I can figure it, through the possibly flawed perceptual filters of my own reality tunnel, the most likely answers this week, seem to me to be:

Q1. York

Q2. W.H.Auden (aka Wystan Hugh Auden)

The initial clues appear to place us in Eboracum, 'The Place of Yews', which some of the sources I checked, claim is of Celtic origin and was appropriated by the Romans to designate the beautiful city of York. There seems to be a Saxon burial mound called 'Siwards How', just to the North of the university.

One of the airfields that 77 Squadron were based at, was Elvington Airfield and at this point in their history (c 1942), they were flying Handley Page Halifax bombers. I found several references to the last Luftwaffe aircraft to crash on British soil, which claim that it was a Junkers 88 night fighter, flown by a very sneaky pilot called Johann Dreher. The Junkers 88 night fighters were at this point in the war (c 3rd of March, 1945), being used to hit the allied bombers when they were at their most vulnerable, ie returning from a raid, on approach to their own airfields (operation Gisela). Hauptman Dreher had already shot down two bombers that night (they used to fly underneath them and fire their cannons into the bomb bays and fuel tanks) and was lined up nicely to take down a French Halifax (piloted by Capitaine Notelle) waiting to land at Elvington, when his plane was hit by ground fire from the guns of a bored British squaddie  ( called Corporal George Wetherill) and three of his mates. The Junkers crashed into a farmhouse near Elvington, killing all four of the crew and three people in the house. The corporal later came to regret his actions that night, as he knew the people who lived in the farmhouse.

The footpath that the puzzle author claimed to be standing on, is probably the 'Wilberforce Way' (named after William Wilberforce, the politician and anti slavery campaigner ( born York c 1759), which seems to be around sixty miles long and runs from Hull to York. The other trails mentioned are most likely the 'Minster Way' (fifty miles long) and the 'Yorkshire Wolds Way National Trail' (seventy six to seventy nine miles long, depending on which reference you check).

The old station in York, built by the York & North Midlands Railway, does appear to have been built c 1840.

The emperors who died in York c 211 ad and 306 ad, were probably 'Septimus Servus' and 'Constantius I' respectively. By all accounts, Septimus Servus was more like a gangster in the film 'Goodfellas', than a benign ruler. King Edwin seems to have been baptized in York c 627 ad and a nasty old fascist called Edward III, was married there c 1328. Saint Margaret was executed in York c 1586 and the people who carried out the murder were by any measure, vicious savages as they put sharp rock under the poor woman and then dropped weights on her, absolutely appalling behavior.

A poet born in York c 1907 and who wrote some verse for a documentary film about a nocturnal train, called 'Night Mail', is probably Wystan Hugh Auden (W.H.Auden).

N.B. Due to the number of people who normally write poison pen letters in green ink posting on his page, the Eastender has moved to moderated comments but rest assured, if you have a non abusive comment or quip relating to the puzzle and its solution, he will endeavour to publish it.