[Geoff Winnington-Ball (RIP)]

The story below speaks for itself.

Tribute paid to Canadian airmen who died in the Netherlands

Last Updated: Wednesday, September 27, 2006 | 10:23 AM ET
CBC News

Two Canadian airmen killed in the Second World War were finally buried Wednesday in the Netherlands near where they died and more than 60 years after their plane was shot out of the sky.

The two officers, Flight Sgt. Joseph Thomas Lloyd LeBlanc from Quebec and Flying Officer Sidney Glen Peterson from Manitoba, died 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. At the time of the crash, only one body was found.

A special funeral service with full military honours was held Wednesday for the airmen in Jonkerbos War Cemetery in Nijmegen. The cemetery holds the remains of more than 1,600 Commonwealth military service personnel, including more than 80 Canadians, who died during the Second World War.

A few family members of the fallen crew, some Canadian, British and Dutch soldiers, a handful of townspeople, and Canadian embassy officials attended the funeral.

All of the airmen whose remains were unearthed were 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," he said. "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.

Mona Parker, who lost her brother, Joseph LeBlanc, in the crash and is his only surviving sibling, said she is relieved that he was finally 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.

LeBlanc, originally from Cascapedia, Que., was 28 when the plane crashed, while Peterson, originally from Winnipeg, Man., was 21.

In the salvage operation, about 80 per cent of the plane was recovered. The remains of the airmen were inside the bomber.

"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, said at the ceremony.

"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."


with files from the Canadian Press

http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2006/0...s-funeral.html