65th Anniversary Commemoration Ceremony
This took place on 21 June 2009. As well as elected officials, members of French armed service veterans' associations and many people from the area, it was attended by:
- A member of the family of three of the crew:
- Chris Dawson, niece of Douglas Dawson
- Mike Duff, great-nephew of Peter Duff
- Anne Storer, daughter of Ernest Stapley
- The Commanding Officer of the current 115 Squadron, RAF, and two colleagues
- A contingent from the Finsbury Park Cycling Club (founded in 1883 and still going strong), of which Ernest Stapley was an active member, who had cycled from Witchford over three days
- A group from Belgium whose village also had a 115 Squadron Lancaster crash, when DS734 was lost with all crew on 25 April 1944.
There was as usual a ceremony of remembrance at the graveside, then a memorial stone was unveiled at the crash site on the edge of the village.
The procession enters the cemetery...
...and makes its way to the graveside
Looking from the war memorial towards the airmen's grave
Some of those attending
Bouquets of remembrance
A minute's silence
Solemn thoughts
Olivier Dassault (Deputy to the National Assembly from Oise), Nick Goodwyn (CO of 115 Squadron), and Olivier De Beule (Mayor of Gannes and co-organizer of the event)
Chris Dawson with her wreath of remembrance
The grave after the ceremony
Chris Dawson, Mike Duff, and eight members of Finsbury Park Cycling Club flanking Anne Storer
The site of the memorial stone at the eastern boundary of Gannes
Before unveiling
Anne Storer and Olivier De Beule unveil the stone
Chris Dawson, Olivier Dassault, Anne Storer, Olivier De Beule, Mike Duff, Dominique Lecomte (the other co-organizer), and Nick Goodwyn
After the ceremony
Remembrance of ex-colleagues
A permanent reminder near the crash site
Some of those attending explained why they were there:
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