Memorials which incorporate one or more propellers from a downed aircraft are common, one incorporating an engine less so. Werkendam, Holland:
Date: 22-JUN-1944 Time: Type: Lancaster Mk III Owner/operator: 101 Squadron Royal Air Force Registration: LM508 C/n / msn: SR-P Fatalities: Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 8 Aircraft damage: Written off (damaged beyond repair) Location: Werkendam - Biesbosch Departure airport: RAF Ludford Magna Target: Wesseling Narrative: Took off from RAF Ludford Magna on ABC duties (electronic warfare). On the home leg, shot down by a night fighter and crashed in the Biesbosch estuary near Werkendam (Noord Brabant), 20 km NNEof Oosterhout. Of the two who died, Flt Sgt Duff rests in Werkendam Protestant Cemetery but Sgt Keogh has no known grave. Plt Off Hingley landed on a bridge and was admitted to hospital with a broken thigh bone. Crew Plt Off G hingley (POW) Sgt S D Rogerson (POW) Fg Off T W Ball (POW) Flt Sgt T H Duff (KIA) Sgt L V H Horrigan (POW) Sgt F Sheard (POW) Sgt J Gascoigne (POW) Sgt J E Keogh (KIA) Remains found in 2014
The CWGC should have insight to the recovery of Sgt Keogh's remains from the reporting procedure to the British authorities from the Dutch authorities.I would think that the CWGC would be aware of the circumstances of a war grave in terms of military remains being found. I would think that there would be No 101 Squadron / British representation at the burial of the remains.....there must be be a report of this event. interesting looking at the engine.....looks as if the engine casing has a serial number or part number 1738 N which should be traceable.....one of the leads used to identify recovered aircraft and point to associated crew groups.This Lancaster was a Mark 111 which basically means it was an aircraft powered by US Packard built Merlins. However it has to be said that some 4 engined Merlin powered aircraft at times were fitted with a combination of RR Merlins and Packard built Merlins according to engine spare availability.
1939 REGISTER TRANSCRIPTION 10 Arram Grove, Kingston-upon-Hull C.B., Yorkshire (East Riding) NAME DOB OCCUPATION John E Keogh 03 Aug 1896 General Labourer - Heavy Rose Keogh 10 May 1897 Unpaid Domestic Duties Thomas Keogh 25 Mar 1905 General Labourer - Heavy Joseph A Keogh 28 Oct 1922 General Labourer - Heavy Sorry, this record is officially closed. Sorry, this record is officially closed. Sorry, this record is officially closed.
The bomber was hit on its way to the target by FLAK. During this attack Keogh was killed and one engine caught fire. The bomber continued its mission but again attached on the way back, this time by a nightfighter. During this attack Duff was severely wounded. Duff was helped out of the aircraft but he subsequently died of his wounds. Keogh, being already dead, was left in the aircraft. It impacted with great force and because of the depth Keogh was not recovered during or shortly after the war.
I do not know if it has been written before, but as far as downed bombers go we the Dutch have nothing to be proud of. Government say they honor the war dead, the have a debt of gratitude etc. but this is as long as it doesn’t cost any money. The commune in which the bomber crashed as to part of the recovery bill. I thought it was 50% but I am not sure of that. Because the dispersal of crash sites are unevenly divided, those communes hit the hardest do not have the money for that. That means that recovery is only performed if the wrack is a risk, for instance when ground works are done in the area. High time payment for recovery is done fully nationally and not partially locally.
WWII RAF airmen laid to rest in the Netherlands There are several threads on this loss here: info wanted 101 Squadron LM508 22-6-1944 Pictures of crew Lancaster LM508 Werkendam will recover Lancaster LM508
Thanks Dave for the reference back....I see I participated in one thread....unfortunately there are no captions on the photographs of the burial proceedings. A number of years ago the ATB produced a good article on the aircraft,both Allied and enemy, that the Dutch had discovered and recovered, together with human remains when land was recovered from the Zuider Zee.
The attached article recently was in the Dutch news. There are probably about 1085 missing aircraft crews buried in the Dutch soil and territorial waters who still await recovery. The article also contains a map of the 501 crashed planes (Allied and German) that have not yet been recovered. 1085 vermiste oorlogsvliegers mogelijk nog in Nederlandse bodem
A close family friend and her mother attended the initial commemoration in Dronten, at the invitation of the Dutch government. Sadly, her father, one of the two survivors, did not live along enough to see it. His Halifax was only recovered in 1964. "In front of Dronten Town Hall there is a Memorial to Bomber Command. The Memorial is a three bladed propeller the same type that was on the RAF Lancaster Bomber. It stands on a pedestal and was funded by the Dutch people to say thank you to the 55,573 Allied Bomber aircrew killed from Royal Air Force Bomber Command and allied crews for their sacrifice during WWII. The propeller is from the wreckage of 12 Squadron Lancaster ED537 lost on the night of 11-12 June 1943 on a mission to Dusseldorf in the Ruhr and which was found in 1964 when the Zuider Zee was drained. Eight streets in Dronten are named after the crew of this aircraft of which sadly only two survived the crash. Dronten itself is a new town post 1945 which is built on the reclaimed land. " I detailed the action in an earlier thread: Lancaster ED357 - 12 Squadron
Ah, Dronten, good memories. I flew in a B-25 over that memorial during our national commemoration of the war dead (04-May-2000).