On the 6th June 1998 members of the society gathered with relatives of former missing Luftwaffe Pilot Uffz. Herbert Blochberger, for his funeral service at the Deautscher Soldatenfriedhof Cimetiere Militaire Allemand 1939 – 1945 Champigny, St. Andre, France. Herbert was recovered in France along with the remains of Messerschmitt Me109 on the 23rd November 1996.
David is seen here prior to the aircraft recovery where he gave a speech in remembrance of the crew followed by a minutes silence. A plaque produced by the society in memory of the crew, was presented to the land owner at the end of the recovery.
Visit to Epping Cemetery to locate a war grave and pay our respects to a Polish pilot Warrant Officer Aleksander Pietrzak whose aircraft crash site we were visiting for the first time that same day. The purpose of our visit to the crash site on the 18th August 2007 was in order to meet with the farmer and land owner to discuss the possible excavation of Aleksander's P-51 III Mustang FX867, in his memory.
The two lay with their aircraft until August 2004 when a Dutch land owner approached a member of the DARE group at one of their exhibitions, he asked if it would be possible to trace relatives of two crewmen who still remained buried along with their aircraft in one of his fields.
On the 20th September a small plaque and cross was erected by The Aircrew Remembrance Society, in memory of the crew of B25 Mitchell FL193. In a short but moving ceremony the cross was unveiled by the daughter of one of the crew, Trish Masters. Trish in the company of her daughter Karina were there to remember father and grandfather, Sgt. Eric Bailey and his three comrades, killed at the site on the 21st September 1943, the event of the ceremony therefore taking place on the eve of the 65th anniversary of the crash. Pictures show Trish at the unveiling.
The Society was contacted by relatives of Fl/Sgt. Bernard Buxton for one of our memorial plaques.
This of course was provided to the relatives.
Massive media coverage of the event On the 30th June. Further pictures being prepared for the website. Pictures kindly supplied direct to us by Laurent Taveau from France who has been one of the main organisers of this splendid memorial plaque.
The Society supplied a small memorial plaques on the 23rd July, for the relative Jeff Boyling to place at the crash site of Halifax LW143 which crashed in 1944, with the assistance of French Forestry worker Msr. Jean Meschberger this was made possible.
A.R. Society contacted again on the 1st September by Laurent Taveau from France regarding the Polish fighter pilot, Chudek - with no known grave. A probable location has been established and a recovery is planned for the recovery of the body later this year. Following this a proper burial will be arranged. Parts from the aircraft and the watch from the pilot have been recovered. More to follow.
We would like to place an appeal 14th February, for any surviving relatives of the crew from Stirling EE873 lost on 13/14th July 1943. The owner of the land a Mr. Sylvester Colson has built a superb memorial to the crew and is seeking relatives to contact him (Via us) in order to arrange a visit
Frequently Used Sources used in Support and illustration of Society Remembrance site pages
Organisations :
I.W.M. (Imperial War Museum) C.W.G.C. (Commonwealth War Graves Commission) P.R.O. (Public Records Office) (National Archives) N.A.A. (National Archives of Australia) The Air Forces Memorial Runnymede Panels (WW2Talk) Chilton Aircraft Preservation Society Archives (David King & Alexander D King) Booker Aircraft Museum Archives, (David King & Alexander D King) Aircrew Remembrance Society Archives
Publications, Authors, Records, Reference works, Press & Press Photography :
Bomber Command Losses (W.R. Chorley All Volumes) Fighter Command Losses (Norman L. R. Franks All Volumes) Air-Britain Serials, Individual Aircraft Files & Publications, Ai-Britain, Fleet Air Arm Aircraft 1939-1945 (Ray Sturtivant, I.S.O. with Mick Burrow) After The Battle Publications The Blitz Then And Now Volumes 1,2 & 3, The Battle Of Britain Then And Now, The Battle Of France Then and Now, (Editor Winston G. Ramsey, Assistant Editor Gordon Ramsey) Bomber Losses Middle East & Mediterranean (David Gunby & Pelham Temple) Coastal Command Losses (Ross McNeill,) The Nuremberg Raid (Martin Middlebrook), The Source Book (Ken Delve) Mighty Eighth war Diary (Roger A. Freeman) The B-17 Flying Fortress Story (Roger A. Freeman) Daily Telegraph (Harry Flower War Correspondent), Kent Messenger, Planet News, Fox Photos,
Aviation Artist & Profile Illustrators:
Robert Taylor, Mark Postlethwaite, Adam Tooby, Robert Tomlin, Simon Atack, Roy Grinnell, Gerald Coulson, Nicolas Trudgian, Keith Aspinall, Iain Wyllie, Ivan Berryman, Darryl Legg
Individual contributors & Historians:
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If you discover any of your work featured without appropriate credit, please contact us immediately — we are committed to resolving such issues promptly and respectfully.
Projects Archive
The People’s War History Group.
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