Lost Heroes Reunited

Kitty · May 4, 2008

Lost War Heroes To Be Reunited After 60 Years

'Lost' war heroes to be reunited after 60 years
A History and Honour news article

The mystery surrounding the whereabouts of two members of a World War II bomber crew who went missing during a bombing raid more than 60 years ago has finally been solved.

Sergeants Stanley Mullenger and John Kehoe of the RAF's 49 Squadron were onboard Hamden P1206 when it took off from RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire at 1714hrs on 8 November 1941 for an intruder sortie in the Bocholt area of northern Germany.

The aircraft was attacked over the Dutch coast by a German night fighter and crashed shortly after 2100hrs into farmland along the Dortstrasse of Berkhout in the neighbourhood of Hoorn. The remains of the other two crew members - Warrant Officer Christopher Saunders DFM and Sergeant James D'Arcy - were recovered by the Germans after the crash and buried. Attempts to recover Sgt Mullenger and Sgt Kehoe were abandoned and they have laid with their aircraft ever since, until that is the Dutch Air Force and Army carried out an excavation in September 2007.

Now Sgt Mullenger and Sgt Kehoe's remains have been recovered and the two airmen are to be laid to rest with full military honours at the General Cemetery in Bergen on Wednesday 7 May 2008

Sue Raftree, a member of the Historical Casualty Casework team at the Service Personnel and Veterans Agency, has coordinated the various aspects of what is a unique story:

"This case was fairly straightforward, the families had been in contact with the local community for some considerable time so they furnished their details to me," Sue explained. "The emotions, particularly for Margaret Walsh, the sister of Sergeant Kehoe, will be, I am sure, very sad. Indeed she has asked for time alone in the church prior to the rest of the Kehoe family and the Mullengers viewing the coffin.

"It is normal policy when a crew, or part of a crew, are found that they are buried in one coffin. They flew together, died together and are therefore buried together. Sgt Kehoe had a fiancée and her daughter will be present at the burial. His fiancée is still alive but is unable to travel.

"The relative of Sgt D'Arcy is also unable to travel, unfortunately, but we will be visiting her after the event to advise her what happened and show her the photographs. Also a member of the RAF will be laying a wreath on her behalf at the burial on Sgt D'Arcy's grave. During the visit Captain Paul Petersen from the Royal Netherlands Air Force will be giving a small piece of Hampden P1206 to the families as a souvenir."

Two of those who will be present at next week's proceedings in Holland are the twin daughters of Warrant Officer Christopher Saunders. Frankie Purser and Jackie Newman were both aged just three years old when their father was killed. Only six months before his death, they had accompanied their father to Buckingham Palace to see him receive the Distinguished Flying Medal. Looking back to March 1941 when her father received his award, Frankie reflected:

"He was a very modest man. When he went to Buckingham Palace to get his Distinguished Flying Medal he took it off before leaving and the photographers outside asked him what he got it for and where was it - he told them that the pin had broken.

"We were very, very proud of him and he was a very brave man, but because we were so young we never really grieved for him at the time. Next week will be very sad but it is a good thing especially for the Mullenger and Kehoe families. Although our father was buried at the time it isn't the same as what will be happening next week."

Frankie's twin sister Jackie added:

"We had never really mourned for our father because we were so young at the time of his death, but now we feel much closer to him and it's a strange feeling."

The burial which will be attended by family members of the fallen men, will be followed by the unveiling of a memorial to the airmen close to the original crash site at Berkhout.
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Kyt · May 4, 2008

Always good to hear when they get a decent burial. RIP.

Saunders won his DFM with 61 Squadron

Antipodean Andy · May 4, 2008

That's excellent news.

Kyt · May 5, 2008

Closure for WW2 airman's family - National News, Frontpage - Independent.ie

AN elderly Irish woman whose teenage brother was killed fighting for Britain 67 years ago will finally have the chance to pay her respects when he is buried this week.

Margaret Walsh (88) from Tullamore, Co Offaly, will make the journey to Bergen in the Netherlands on Wednesday to see her brother, RAF gunner Sergeant John Kehoe, laid to rest with military honours.

In doing so, she will fulfil the dying wish of her mother Ellen, who passed away in 1947 without seeing her son buried on consecrated ground.

The 19-year-old, known as Jack, was part of a four-man Hampden bomber crew shot down near the occupied Dutch coast on November 8, 1941 on a mission to northern Germany.

The bodies of two of the men who bailed out seconds before the impact, Warrant Officer Christopher Saunders and Sgt James D'Arcy, were recovered and buried at the time.

But Sgt Kehoe and crewmate Sgt Stanley Mullenger, from Barking, Essex, were trapped inside the plane when it crashed into soft ground in a field at Berkhout, near Hoorn.

The men's bodies remained inside the wreckage and when the Germans had the crater filled in, they were lost for decades under a field of potatoes and tulips.

Following a long-running campaign spearheaded by Mrs Walsh and her daughter Margaret Tracey, from Naas, Co Kildare, the plane was finally excavated by Dutch air force specialists last year.

Mrs Walsh once hoped to be able to bring her brother back to Ireland for burial. But as the two men's remains were impossible to accurately separate after so many years, they are to be buried in the same coffin alongside WO Saunders and Sgt D'Arcy, in Bergen's cemetery.

Mrs Walsh, who will be accompanied by 16 members of her family at the funeral, said: "I would like to say goodbye to him after all these years.

"It will be the finish of a long fight and it is all thanks to my daughter Margaret.''

Because initially there was no body recovered, Sgt Kehoe's family had held on to the hope that he had been taken prisoner for several years.

Mrs Walsh told how the family had been expecting an imminent visit from Sgt Kehoe to introduce his English fiancee when he was killed.

"He was three times coming and the leave was cancelled and then he was coming before Christmas, he was definitely coming, and Mum said: 'When you are on the road, let us know'.

"Mum saw the telegraph boy at the gate and she went out and met him. She thought Jack was on his way home. She couldn't find her glasses, so she ripped the wire open and it said: 'We deeply regret to announce that Sgt John Kehoe is missing'.

"He was a nice boy, he was a well-loved boy.''

Sgt Kehoe's then fiancee Mary Wrighton (85) is too frail to travel, but will be represented by her daughter.
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There is a picture of Kehoe on the above link

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