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BERGEN - A one engined plane will make a fly-past on the 7th of May during the burial with military honour of two aviators who died in November 1941 when their bomber was shot down by a German nightfighter. The flying tribute is carried out with a North American Harvard AT-6. That plane was in use by the RAF since 1938 for training purposes. The Dutch royal airforce, which conducts the fly-past at May 7th, has used Harvards for a long time also. They were especially used for continued flying training at Gilze-Rijen. A number of them has been taken over from the RAF. In 1962, the planes were taken out of use. Harvards make a characteric sound, caused by the propeller of the Pratt and Whitney engine.. |
Berkhout
The burial will take place at 11 hours on the Commonwealth war cemetery in Bergen. It concerns the two airgunners of the British Hampden bomber, John Kehoe and Stanley Mullenger. Their remains have been exhumed in September last year, toghether with those of their plane in Berkhout. On the 7th of May they get their final resting place, where their pilot Chris Saunders and navigator James d'Arcy were buried allready in 1941. The burial is preceded by a joint catholic-anglican church service, which is conducted by RAF-reverend Tim Wright and father Kees Groenewoud. At two O'clock a monument will be revealed at Berkhout, close the site of the crash. This exists from a conserved hub and propellor of the crashed Hampden, which has been assembled on a large stone. The stone shows at the front a chopped away ' V ' for victory, whereas the upper side symbolises an acre. On a text plate of bronze and brass there will be some information about the mission, date and the names of the perished crew members.