Dedication monument MEERLO,
The Netherlands
June 7, 2008
In honor of the crew members
of the Avro Lancaster Mark III - LM465 LS-U
XV Squadron, Royal Air Force
Mildenhall, United Kingdom 1944
Pilot Officer Carlton Steward
THOMPSON, pilot
W/O 11 Roderick MCMILLAN, navigator
W/O 11 Ronald George LEMKY, bomb aimer
Sgt Maurice Bernard PELHAM, flight engineer
Sgt Thomas Edward STUBBS, miduppergunner
Sgt Richard Sydney MOBBS, rear gunner
and
the only survivor of that horrible crash on June 13th, 1944:
Sgt Jack M. TREND, wireless operator
The day started
with coffee and the famous Limburg fruit pie at Meerlo town hall. Mayor Joep
Hahn 
welcomed his special
guests: Jack Trend, the family members of the crew, the Royal Air Force, the
organising committee and members of the Santa
Fe group
with their WWII vehicles.
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A
last change in the program
and waiting for the sign: GO |
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| And GO it
was: A line of about 10 WWII vehicles escorted us to the meeting point where the band was waiting |
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LEFT:
the band behind the monument
RIGHT: 15 Squadron, Royal Air Force set up their standard in front of the monument |
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Speaker
Chris MOBBS
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Young
and old - a captive audience
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Speaker
Jack TREND
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Unveiling
by Jack TREND
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The
Last Post
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A
floral tribute
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To underline
the feeling of the Meerlo community on the tribute to these lives sacrificed
for our freedom, it must be mentioned here that the
ground on which the monument stands is owned by Family Van de Winkel-Vissers
who graciously donated it and have pledged to keep the monument
in mint condition in the future.
A fitting tribute was made by one of the members of SANTE FE who flew over the monument with a Fairchild UC61 K "Argus III" several times after the ceremony in a worthy greeting.
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LEFT: coming
in for the fly-over RIGHT: an example of a Fairchild UC61 |
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You Tube film on Fairchild fly-over |
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What
a great way to close this special event.
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| On our return to the town hall, some felt safe just to pose for the picture |  |
The RAF, however, had to try out this little gadget called motorcycle.... |
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And they didn't tear any clothes, but... | |
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Maybe they had better stick to airplanes! | |
 Tornado GR4 aircraft to which they are used! |
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