I shall be travelling to the continent later this week. Nothing to do with 22 idiots kicking a bag of wind around a field, but for a very different reason. This Friday will mark the 73rd anniversary of the loss of Lancaster ED810, VN-Z of 50 Squadron. The RAF Skellingthorpe-based Lancaster was shot down on its way back from a raid on Oberhausen in the Ruhr, a victim of Rudolf Frank’s ME110 night fighter. All 7 crew perished, including my great uncle.
73 years on, the district of Ekeren, Antwerp has commissioned a memorial to be placed near the crash site. Quite a few of us relatives of the crew have been invited to attend the unveiling on Friday.
I am very much looking forward to meeting and thanking the Belgians who have made this happen. I thought I should share this on the forum to show that the people of Europe never forget, and to show the lengths they are going to to acknowledge the sacrifice of what was just 7 ordinary airmen of an ordinary RAF bomber crew.
By: jack windsor - 28th June 2016 at 20:58
thank you to all of them, its good to remember,
regards,
jack…
By: trumper - 28th June 2016 at 20:16
Another lovely ,albeit sad thread ,may they always be remembered and may they R I P. Thanks for posting this.
By: Blue_2 - 28th June 2016 at 17:21
Prompted by the event in Belgium, I decided it was time to get this out of the loft, dust it off, and finally finish building it. A 1/48 build I started ages ago of the Lancaster which was being commemorated last week, B.I ED810.
By: Dave Homewood - 22nd June 2016 at 09:19
Very moving and interesting thread,thanks for posting it Blue_2.
By: Blue_2 - 21st June 2016 at 20:57
Thanks for all your comments so far chaps.
T/O the shot where I caught Wim was purely accidental. Honest….!
By: GliderSpit - 21st June 2016 at 19:49
Wonderful memorial. Well done to all who have made this possible!
By: TwinOtter23 - 21st June 2016 at 19:18
That’s a nice piece Blue_2 and as you already know this evening I’m also thinking of another Lancaster crew, some of whom were lost over northern Belgium on this night 72 years ago!
Nice to see that you caught Wim on camera.
Next time we meet up we’ll have to catch up regarding the 1661 HCU / RAF Winthorpe connections.
Lest We Forget.
Addendum: I’ve just re-read the photo captions and two of the ME846 crew-members are buried in the same cemetery.
By: D1566 - 21st June 2016 at 19:17
Wonderful memorial to them all.
By: 1batfastard - 21st June 2016 at 18:29
Hi All,
Blue_2,
I am certain that your great-uncle is looking down upon you with much pride, the same that you feel when thinking of him. You are a credit to your family with the homage you have paid to your very brave great-uncle. Thank you so much for sharing a very private part of your life. RIP Mr Buckle.
Geoff.
By: Blue_2 - 21st June 2016 at 18:05
I thought I would post some photos of the visit to Belgium, and the unveiling of the memorial to ED810 and her crew. I hope some on here find it interesting anyway…
The ceremony was on Friday, June 17. This was the view which greeted us on arrival at the memorial site in Ekeren, Antwerp. Behind us was a small temporary grandstand and a lot of spectators already, which was slightly overwhelming!
Our first port of call after a coffee was the crash site itself, probably about 100m away from the memorial. The aircraft came to rest in what is now a very peaceful orchard. The crash site is all too evident, in the area of missing trees and a shallow crater which is easier to see in real life than my photo suggests.
The band of the Belgian Air Force was present
And we were honoured with a flypast by a pair of Belgian F-16’s
After the speeches, including words from the mayor of Antwerp, Koen Palinckx (one of the driving forces behind the memorial project), Alison Rose the UK ambassador to Belgium, Wim Govaerts (Belgian WW2 air war expert extraordinaire!), and on behalf of us relatives of the crew from the UK Clive Baughan, the ceremony was unveiled. This was done by Alan Crawford, brother of VN-Z’s pilot, assisted by Koen and the Chief of the Belgian Air Force
After which wreathes were laid
Here Clive lays one on behalf of the 50 Squadron Association
The plaque at the foot of the memorial
There were also 3 formation flypasts by 3 SV4’s of the Stampe aviation museum
The UK contingent in front of the memorial. Relatives of 3 of the 7-man crew
After this we were taken to a lovely reception, to sign the book of Ekeren. The chap who signed it before me left this very moving testimony
That afternoon we were taken to the wonderful Stampe museum (about which I shall write a separate post), then the next day we went to the Schoonselhof cemetery to visit the crew’s graves. I also wanted Joe to get his medals finally
All the crew together
Overall a fantastic visit, and a great memorial to 7 boys who made the ultimate sacrifice. All of us relatives were overwhelmed by the reception we received, the way we were looked after throughout our visit, and the wonderful memorial the people of Ekeren have placed.
With many, many thanks to all our new Belgian friends (particularly Wim, Koen, Jerf, Bram and Guido), the Belgian Air Force, and the people of Ekeren.
By: BobKat - 14th June 2016 at 11:26
Good to hear this Blue_2. We had a similar experience two years ago in relation to the crew lost on Lancaster ED908, when the local community in France erected a memorial in the local churchyard and welcomed members of the families of the crew to its unveiling.
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June 14, 2016 at 9:52 am