Wed Sep 27, 2006 9:40 am
Families pay tribute to Canadian airmen who died in the Netherlands
Last Updated Wed, 27 Sep 2006 10:23:48 EDT
CBC News
Canadian family members said a final farewell at a funeral in the Netherlands on Wednesday for two Canadian airmen who were killed in action more than 60 years ago, during the Second World War.
The two officers, Flight Sgt. Joseph LeBlanc from Quebec and Flying Officer Sidney Peterson from Manitoba, died on May 25, 1944, when a British Halifax bomber was shot down by a German fighter plane in the Netherlands. Five other airmen on board also died in the crash.
Remains of the airmen and fragments of the aircraft were recovered last fall from a swampy area near the city of Nijmegen in an effort funded by the Dutch government. Only one body was found at the time of the crash.
A special funeral service with full military honours was held on Wednesday for the airmen in Jonkerbos War Cemetery in Nijmegen. The cemetery contains the remains of more than 1,600 Commonwealth military service personnel, including more than 80 Canadians, who died during the Second World War.
All of the airmen whose remains were unearthed were to be buried in one coffin.
"It was quite a moving experience," Canadian Michael LeBlanc, nephew of Joseph LeBlanc, said of the funeral service.
"As we were leaving the church, I was looking at the faces of the Dutch people at the service and I was struck by how many had tears in their eyes. I was struck by the deep and real sentiment expressed."
David Common, a CBC reporter in the Netherlands, said a Dutch farmer saw the bomber crash into the ground. He tried for 20 years to have the aircraft and remains unearthed and his efforts finally resulted in a salvage operation. It is believed to have cost about $400,000.
Over time, the wreckage sank into the ground in a farmer's field because of drainage and land reclamation projects.
Common said a few family members of the fallen crew, along with Canadian, British and Dutch soldiers, and some townspeople attended the funeral.
Mona Parker, who lost her brother Joseph LeBlanc in the crash and is his only surviving sibling, said she is relieved that he will finally be buried.
"He never really had a funeral even though the family went to the graveside and did all the usual things," she said. "So I guess, in essence, it is closure for me. I'm the only one left in my family."
The seven airmen were part of a planned attack on German rail lines in the days before D-Day, the Allied invasion to liberate Europe from Nazi occupation.
Canadian WWII airmen buried in Netherlands
Updated Wed. Sep. 27 2006 10:12 AM ET
CTV.ca News Staff
More than six decades after they were shot down over the Netherlands during the Second World War, two Canadian airmen were buried with full military honours Wednesday.
In a ceremony attended by their relatives, Flying Officer Sidney Glen Peterson and Flight Sergeant Joseph Thomas Lloyd LeBlanc were buried at Jonkerbos War Cemetery in the Netherlands.
"It is truly an honour to be here today with the family members of the airmen as they commemorate and honour their courageous loved ones," Masud Husain, Charge d'Affairs for the Canadian Embassy in the Netherlands, told the gathering.
"The torch of remembrance continues to burn bright, as Canadians everywhere remember the many sacrifices made by these airmen and their comrades for the freedom we have today."
Peterson and LeBlanc were among seven airmen killed on May 25, 1944 when a German fighter plane shot down their Halifax Bomber LV905 near the southern Dutch village of Hank.
Only two bodies were found at the time of the crash and only British Sergeant George Herbert Butler was positively identified. Sgt. Butler and the unidentified airman were buried in Jonkerbos War Cemetery in 1944.
The bomber crashed on what was then marshy land. But over time, drainage and land reclamation projects buried the wreckage about four metres deep in a farmer's field.
The recovery was initiated by the Salvage Halifax 1944 Foundation and carried out by the Royal Netherlands Air Force Salvage Team, with the support of the municipality of Werkendam.
The salvage effort took almost five years and the remains were finally recovered in Sept. 2005.
Veterans Affairs Canada arranged for family members of the two Canadian crew members to attend the burial, accompanied by Masud Husain, Charge d'Affaires for Canadian Embassy in the Netherlands, members of the Canadian Forces, British and Dutch civilian and military officials.