He’s back – the iconic steelman statue, which features on the Corby Town FC badge, has returned to Corby town centre and he now commemorates town workers who played a vital role in the war effort.

The statue, removed and put in storage during redevelopment of George Street, has now been put back up outside The Cube.

It was unveiled yesterday by town mayor Ann Brown who revealed the statue’s new ironstone plinth with a new plaque dedicated to Corby men and women who worked at Stewarts & Lloyds on the secret Pluto project [Pipelines Under the Ocean] during the Second World War. The pipelines, made at Corby steelworks, supplied fuel to the Allies’ invading forces after the D-Day landings.

One of the men who worked on Pluto, George Ralston, 85, of Burns Drive, Corby, was at the unveiling ceremony. He said: “I was between 16 and 18 at the time and I was a ring-bed boy. We had no idea we were working on a vital operation

“I’m delighted that all the men and women who worked on Pluto have been honoured in this way.”

Jack Marshall, 83, of Hazelwood Road, Corby, who was at the ceremony, also worked on Pluto.

He said: “I was 14 and I worked in the research department, testing the welds on the pipeline. It was kept very secret at the time.”

Representatives of Tata Steel, which gave £2,800 towards the cost of the new plinth, were also at the unveiling, along with union members from the firm, who contributed a further £100.

Cllr Brown said: “The steelman is a symbol of Corby’s industrial past and it is fitting it stands next to The Cube, a symbol of its bright future.”

Cllr Mary Butcher added: “It’s right that we honour people whose work helped save so many lives.”

http://www.northantset.co.uk/news/local/corby/steelman_returns_to_town_centre_home_1_2529506