An unexpected find near Monet's home in Giverny
While visiting painter Claude Monet's village in Normandy, I took a walk to the nearby church and saw this grave stone, next to Monet's.
A knowledgeable friend of mine tells the propeller displayed does not come from a Lancaster, but I am still waiting for him to tell me what type of aircraft it was!
Anyhow, what struck me afterwards was that one of the victims of that crash happens to have been the brother-in-law of a dear friend of ours in England, Mrs Joan Hook, from Gloucester.
Isn't it a small world?
posted by Cathie at 5:41 pm
2 Comments:
Catherine:
The airmen served with 115 Squadron and they are buried in a collective grave.
As the memorial records, they were lost on the night of 7th / 8th June 1944 (D+1 / D+2) of the Normandy Landings. Only one of these airmen is listed by the CWGC as coming from Gloucestershire, and he was the pilot (Pilot Officer Ronald Peter Maude).
From the CWGC, these are the seven airmen buried in Giverny Churchyard (listed alphabetically):
1. Sergeant (Flt. Engr.) Alan Herbert ANDERSON, RAFVR,
Service No: 1590890
Age: 19.
Son of: Herbert and Florence Hilda Anderson, of North Shields, Northumberland.
2. Pilot Officer (Air Bomber) Harold Arthur FOSTER, RAF,
Service No: 177401
Age: 31
Son of: Arthur and Alice Lily Foster;
Husband of: Joan Rosamund Foster, of Coventry, Warwickshire.
3. Sergeant (W.Op. /Air Gnr.) Jack Leslie FYFE, RAFVR,
Service No: 1340922
Age: 22
Son of: William and Isabella Leslie Fyfe, of Tillicoultry, Clackmannanshire
4. Pilot Officer (Pilot) Ronald Peter MAUDE, RAFVR,
Service No: 174531
Age: 21
Son of: Edgar Ringrose Maude and Elsie Boyfield Maude, of Gloucester
5. Sergeant (Air Gnr.) Kenneth PENTON, RAFVR,
Service No: 1607978
Age: 20
Son of: Charles and Evelyn Penton, of Southampton.
6. Sergeant (Air Gnr.) Robert Donald John SUTHERLAND, RAFVR,
Service No: 1567609
Age: 20
Son of: John Macpherson Sutherland and Helen Sutherland, of Golspie, Sutherlandshire.
7. Flying Officer (Nav.) Ronald Willam TOVEY, RAF,
Srvice No: 55041
Age: 23
(Next of Kin details not listed)
************
"Despite the Elements"
(Motto of 115 Squadron)
"Strike Hard, Strike Sure"
(Motto of RAF Bomber Command)
Do you already know witch prop is used for this monument?
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