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Hampden P1206 of 49 Squadron took off from RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire at 1714 hrs on 8 November 1941 for an intruder sortie in the Bocholt area of Germany, but failed to return. The aircraft was attacked over the coast by a German night fighter and crashed shortly after 2100 hrs onto farmland along the Dorfstrasse of Berkhout in the neighbourhood of Hoorn.
The remains of two of the crew, Warrant Officer Christopher Saunders DFM (Distinguished Flying Medal) RAF and Sergeant James D'Arcy RAFVR (RAF Volunteer Reserve), were recovered at the time by the Germans and buried in Bergen General Cemetery.
Attempts to recover the other two crew members, Sergeant Stanley Mullenger RAFVR and Sergeant John (Jack) Kehoe RAF, were abandoned and the two lay with their aircraft until an excavation by the Dutch Air Force and the Dutch Army in September 2007.
Margaret Walsh, Sergeant Jack Kehoe's sister, travelled to the Netherlands from southern Ireland to attend her brother's funeral. Her parents never knew what happened to their son and, reflecting on the family's anguish, the 89-year-old said:
"It's sad but I'm happy inside. It's taken 66 years and I'm thankful to all the people who have made this happen. I've nothing but good things to say, especially about the Dutch people."
As a mark of comradeship, the remains of Sergeant Mullenger, Wireless Operator/Air Gunner on the Hampden, and Sergeant Kehoe, Air Gunner, have been laid in a single coffin beneath headstones lying back-to-back with the graves of their previously buried companions.
As the Queen's Colour Squadron lowered the coffin into its final resting place, a trumpeter from the Band of the RAF Regiment played 'The Last Post' and, as a tribute to the downed airmen, two Harvard AT-6 aircraft from the Royal Netherlands Air Force performed a flypast over the grave.
Sergeant Mullenger's niece, Penny Goodman, who was also at the funeral, said:
"I feel honoured and privileged to be here and represent my mother. I didn't know my Uncle Stanley; I was born after he died but I do have memories of her telling me stories of him and the escapades he used to get up to!"
As a further mark of respect, and one that reflects the gratitude so prevalent toward the Allied Forces, a memorial to the airmen close to the original crash site at Berkhout was unveiled by Koggenland Mayor, Leoni Sipkes. She said:
"May they and all the others that died for freedom and justice not be forgotten. They gave us freedom and it is our duty to keep it."
Ian Sharpe, nephew of Sergeant Mullenger, summarised his feelings with sentiments echoed by his family, when he said:
"They've been together for nearly 70 years and now they'll be together for eternity - what could be better?"
Amongst the guests were the British and Irish Ambassadors, Mr Lyn Parker and Mr Richard Ryan, respectively, and, representing the Chief of the Air Staff, Air Commodore Andrew Sudlow from Headquarters Air Command in Buckinghamshire. |
