Allied Losses and Incidents: All Commands

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NOTE ON DATES: IMPORTANT: For consistency, the Date is given as the date the mission TOOK OFF since the precise time of a loss is not always certain. Take Off date is unambigous and fixed in the official records, but obviously in those cases where the incident occurred before midnight UK time, then the Take Off Date will be the same as the Incident Date. Of course, most Bomber Command missions flew through midnight, therefore a Luftwaffe claim against a plane - or a locally generated crash report - may record the incident as occurring on the day following our Take Off Date. Bear this in mind when cross-referencing to our Luftwaffe Victories by Name/Date Database and other Luftwaffe sources. In some cases other sources may quote the date following our date, using locally generated reports as their source. To add to the potential for confusion, remember to take into account a Luftwaffe recorded date will be in local time, 1 hour ahead of UK time. When we discover a validated Incident Date we change our record if necessary.

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You searched for: “ND411”

#	Name*	First Names	Rank	Service No.	Born	Nationality	Role	Awards	Air Force	Command	Unit	DateofIncident *See Note	Aircraft	Type	Serial	Code	Base	Time	Mission	Incident	Fate	Commemorated	Referring Database	Notes
1	Gay	Clifford Samuel	Flight Sergeant	418938		Australia	Bomb Aimer		RAAF	Bomber Command	103 Sqn	1944-05-03	Lancaster	III	ND411	PM:J	Elsham Wolds	22:08	Mailly-le-Camp	Hit by 1-4/gem Flak Abt 593. Crashed Beauchert at 01:05. (Nachtjagd Combat Archives 1944 Part 2 - Theo Boiten)	Killed	Beauchery-St-Martin Communal Cemetery		Lancaster ND411, piloted by Pilot Officer J. E. Holden, was shot down and crashed over Beauchery-St-Martin, whilst on a bombing raid to the German military base at Mailly-Le-Camp, on 3-4 May 1944. All the crew were killed. The Bomber Command War Diaries by Martin Middlebrook states: ‘Late on 3 May 1944, 346 Lancasters of 1 and 5 Groups along with pathfinder Mosquitoes attacked the large German military base at Mailly-Le-Camp. The control of this raid in the target area failed to operate according to plan. The initial low level markers were accurate and well backed up by Lancaster marker aircraft. The Marker leader (Wing Commander G. L. Cheshire) ordered the main force to come in and bomb but the main force Controller (Wing Commander L. C. Deane) could not transmit the order to do so to the waiting Lancasters because his VHF set was being drowned by an American Forces Broadcast and his transmitter was wrongly tuned. German fighters arrived during the delay and bomber casualties were heavy. The main attack eventually started when Deputy Controller (Squadron Leader E. N. M. Sparks) took over. Approximately 1500 tons of bombs were dropped with great accuracy. 114 barrack buildings, 47 transport sheds and some ammunition buildings in the camp were hit; 102 vehicles including 37 tanks were destroyed 218 German soldiers were killed and 156 were injured. Most of the casualties were Panzer NCO’s. There were no French casualties but some were killed when Lancaster ND411 was shot down and crashed on their house.’ This aircraft was homeward after the raid but North of its tracked course. There has been some dispute over French soldier deaths held in the barracks. The Australian Government publication, Invasion to Victory April 1944 to May 1945, states: ‘The people of Beauchery-St-Martin, a little village to the South East of Paris, also had good reason to remember the night of 4-5 May 1944. Rachel De Boisgelin, the American born wife of a local landowner, was woken up by the noise: “Many of us living near were awakened by a tremendous roar of motors, by firing and then the sky was lighted up for miles around by explosions. But at that time the Germans were masters here and anyone who stepped out of a house before five in the morning risked being shot. By the noise and the glow in the sky, when the planes came down the Germans knew what had happened and they were looking at everything before anyone else. It gives me grief to tell these painful details but the planes caught fire which made identification of those who were in them extremely difficult” RAAF Flight Sergeant Clifford Gay was in one of the planes, Lancaster ND411 of 103 Squadron. Two Lancasters came down very near to each other and of the 15 crew only one survived. The remains of the others were placed in five coffins and were buried by the villagers in a collective grave in the Beauchery Communal Cemetery.’ A local teacher, Simone Rustang wrote to the sister of Sergeant James Moore, the flight engineer in ND411: ‘Never has our village seen such a big crowd - 1800 to 2000 people. At that lovely time of the year there were plenty of lilacs and lilies of the valley also tulips and rarer flowers. The five coffins disappeared under the tulips and whilst they were all being taken to their last resting place in this peaceful corner of the cemetery where the grass often grows, we were thinking of their families who might be thinking of them alive somewhere in Europe.’ gayx
2	Holden	John Edgar	Pilot Officer	173327			Pilot		RAFVR	Bomber Command	103 Sqn	1944-05-03	Lancaster	III	ND411	PM:J	Elsham Wolds	22:08	Mailly-le-Camp	Hit by 1-4/gem Flak Abt 593. Crashed Beauchert at 01:05. (Nachtjagd Combat Archives 1944 Part 2 - Theo Boiten)	Killed Age 20	Beauchery-St-Martin Communal Cemetery Coll. Grave 1-3.		Lancaster ND411, piloted by Pilot Officer J. E. Holden, was shot down and crashed over Beauchery-St-Martin, whilst on a bombing raid to the German military base at Mailly-Le-Camp, on 3-4 May 1944. All the crew were killed. The Bomber Command War Diaries by Martin Middlebrook states: ‘Late on 3 May 1944, 346 Lancasters of 1 and 5 Groups along with pathfinder Mosquitoes attacked the large German military base at Mailly-Le-Camp. The control of this raid in the target area failed to operate according to plan. The initial low level markers were accurate and well backed up by Lancaster marker aircraft. The Marker leader (Wing Commander G. L. Cheshire) ordered the main force to come in and bomb but the main force Controller (Wing Commander L. C. Deane) could not transmit the order to do so to the waiting Lancasters because his VHF set was being drowned by an American Forces Broadcast and his transmitter was wrongly tuned. German fighters arrived during the delay and bomber casualties were heavy. The main attack eventually started when Deputy Controller (Squadron Leader E. N. M. Sparks) took over. Approximately 1500 tons of bombs were dropped with great accuracy. 114 barrack buildings, 47 transport sheds and some ammunition buildings in the camp were hit; 102 vehicles including 37 tanks were destroyed 218 German soldiers were killed and 156 were injured. Most of the casualties were Panzer NCO’s. There were no French casualties but some were killed when Lancaster ND411 was shot down and crashed on their house.’ This aircraft was homeward after the raid but North of its tracked course. There has been some dispute over French soldier deaths held in the barracks. The Australian Government publication, Invasion to Victory April 1944 to May 1945, states: ‘The people of Beauchery-St-Martin, a little village to the South East of Paris, also had good reason to remember the night of 4-5 May 1944. Rachel De Boisgelin, the American born wife of a local landowner, was woken up by the noise: “Many of us living near were awakened by a tremendous roar of motors, by firing and then the sky was lighted up for miles around by explosions. But at that time the Germans were masters here and anyone who stepped out of a house before five in the morning risked being shot. By the noise and the glow in the sky, when the planes came down the Germans knew what had happened and they were looking at everything before anyone else. It gives me grief to tell these painful details but the planes caught fire which made identification of those who were in them extremely difficult” RAAF Flight Sergeant Clifford Gay was in one of the planes, Lancaster ND411 of 103 Squadron. Two Lancasters came down very near to each other and of the 15 crew only one survived. The remains of the others were placed in five coffins and were buried by the villagers in a collective grave in the Beauchery Communal Cemetery.’ A local teacher, Simone Rustang wrote to the sister of Sergeant James Moore, the flight engineer in ND411: ‘Never has our village seen such a big crowd - 1800 to 2000 people. At that lovely time of the year there were plenty of lilacs and lilies of the valley also tulips and rarer flowers. The five coffins disappeared under the tulips and whilst they were all being taken to their last resting place in this peaceful corner of the cemetery where the grass often grows, we were thinking of their families who might be thinking of them alive somewhere in Europe.’
3	Hoxford	Fred Carson	Sergeant	R219997	3rd March 1925, Toronto, Ontario	Canada	Air Gunner		RCAF	Bomber Command	103 Sqn	1944-05-03	Lancaster	III	ND411	PM:J	Elsham Wolds	22:08	Mailly-le-Camp	Hit by 1-4/gem Flak Abt 593. Crashed Beauchert at 01:05. (Nachtjagd Combat Archives 1944 Part 2 - Theo Boiten)	Killed	Beauchery-St-Martin Communal Cemetery Coll. Grave 1-3.	Paradie Archive Database	Lancaster ND411, piloted by Pilot Officer J. E. Holden, was shot down and crashed over Beauchery-St-Martin, whilst on a bombing raid to the German military base at Mailly-Le-Camp, on 3-4 May 1944. All the crew were killed. The Bomber Command War Diaries by Martin Middlebrook states: ‘Late on 3 May 1944, 346 Lancasters of 1 and 5 Groups along with pathfinder Mosquitoes attacked the large German military base at Mailly-Le-Camp. The control of this raid in the target area failed to operate according to plan. The initial low level markers were accurate and well backed up by Lancaster marker aircraft. The Marker leader (Wing Commander G. L. Cheshire) ordered the main force to come in and bomb but the main force Controller (Wing Commander L. C. Deane) could not transmit the order to do so to the waiting Lancasters because his VHF set was being drowned by an American Forces Broadcast and his transmitter was wrongly tuned. German fighters arrived during the delay and bomber casualties were heavy. The main attack eventually started when Deputy Controller (Squadron Leader E. N. M. Sparks) took over. Approximately 1500 tons of bombs were dropped with great accuracy. 114 barrack buildings, 47 transport sheds and some ammunition buildings in the camp were hit; 102 vehicles including 37 tanks were destroyed 218 German soldiers were killed and 156 were injured. Most of the casualties were Panzer NCO’s. There were no French casualties but some were killed when Lancaster ND411 was shot down and crashed on their house.’ This aircraft was homeward after the raid but North of its tracked course. There has been some dispute over French soldier deaths held in the barracks. The Australian Government publication, Invasion to Victory April 1944 to May 1945, states: ‘The people of Beauchery-St-Martin, a little village to the South East of Paris, also had good reason to remember the night of 4-5 May 1944. Rachel De Boisgelin, the American born wife of a local landowner, was woken up by the noise: “Many of us living near were awakened by a tremendous roar of motors, by firing and then the sky was lighted up for miles around by explosions. But at that time the Germans were masters here and anyone who stepped out of a house before five in the morning risked being shot. By the noise and the glow in the sky, when the planes came down the Germans knew what had happened and they were looking at everything before anyone else. It gives me grief to tell these painful details but the planes caught fire which made identification of those who were in them extremely difficult” RAAF Flight Sergeant Clifford Gay was in one of the planes, Lancaster ND411 of 103 Squadron. Two Lancasters came down very near to each other and of the 15 crew only one survived. The remains of the others were placed in five coffins and were buried by the villagers in a collective grave in the Beauchery Communal Cemetery.’ A local teacher, Simone Rustang wrote to the sister of Sergeant James Moore, the flight engineer in ND411: ‘Never has our village seen such a big crowd - 1800 to 2000 people. At that lovely time of the year there were plenty of lilacs and lilies of the valley also tulips and rarer flowers. The five coffins disappeared under the tulips and whilst they were all being taken to their last resting place in this peaceful corner of the cemetery where the grass often grows, we were thinking of their families who might be thinking of them alive somewhere in Europe.’
4	McCallum	Arthur Arnold	Sergeant	R214657	23rd September 1919, Ontario	Canada	Air Gunner		RCAF	Bomber Command	103 Sqn	1944-05-03	Lancaster	III	ND411	PM:J	Elsham Wolds	22:08	Mailly-le-Camp	Hit by 1-4/gem Flak Abt 593. Crashed Beauchert at 01:05. (Nachtjagd Combat Archives 1944 Part 2 - Theo Boiten)	Killed	Beauchery-St-Martin Communal Cemetery	Paradie Archive Database	Lancaster ND411, piloted by Pilot Officer J. E. Holden, was shot down and crashed over Beauchery-St-Martin, whilst on a bombing raid to the German military base at Mailly-Le-Camp, on 3-4 May 1944. All the crew were killed. The Bomber Command War Diaries by Martin Middlebrook states: ‘Late on 3 May 1944, 346 Lancasters of 1 and 5 Groups along with pathfinder Mosquitoes attacked the large German military base at Mailly-Le-Camp. The control of this raid in the target area failed to operate according to plan. The initial low level markers were accurate and well backed up by Lancaster marker aircraft. The Marker leader (Wing Commander G. L. Cheshire) ordered the main force to come in and bomb but the main force Controller (Wing Commander L. C. Deane) could not transmit the order to do so to the waiting Lancasters because his VHF set was being drowned by an American Forces Broadcast and his transmitter was wrongly tuned. German fighters arrived during the delay and bomber casualties were heavy. The main attack eventually started when Deputy Controller (Squadron Leader E. N. M. Sparks) took over. Approximately 1500 tons of bombs were dropped with great accuracy. 114 barrack buildings, 47 transport sheds and some ammunition buildings in the camp were hit; 102 vehicles including 37 tanks were destroyed 218 German soldiers were killed and 156 were injured. Most of the casualties were Panzer NCO’s. There were no French casualties but some were killed when Lancaster ND411 was shot down and crashed on their house.’ This aircraft was homeward after the raid but North of its tracked course. There has been some dispute over French soldier deaths held in the barracks. The Australian Government publication, Invasion to Victory April 1944 to May 1945, states: ‘The people of Beauchery-St-Martin, a little village to the South East of Paris, also had good reason to remember the night of 4-5 May 1944. Rachel De Boisgelin, the American born wife of a local landowner, was woken up by the noise: “Many of us living near were awakened by a tremendous roar of motors, by firing and then the sky was lighted up for miles around by explosions. But at that time the Germans were masters here and anyone who stepped out of a house before five in the morning risked being shot. By the noise and the glow in the sky, when the planes came down the Germans knew what had happened and they were looking at everything before anyone else. It gives me grief to tell these painful details but the planes caught fire which made identification of those who were in them extremely difficult” RAAF Flight Sergeant Clifford Gay was in one of the planes, Lancaster ND411 of 103 Squadron. Two Lancasters came down very near to each other and of the 15 crew only one survived. The remains of the others were placed in five coffins and were buried by the villagers in a collective grave in the Beauchery Communal Cemetery.’ A local teacher, Simone Rustang wrote to the sister of Sergeant James Moore, the flight engineer in ND411: ‘Never has our village seen such a big crowd - 1800 to 2000 people. At that lovely time of the year there were plenty of lilacs and lilies of the valley also tulips and rarer flowers. The five coffins disappeared under the tulips and whilst they were all being taken to their last resting place in this peaceful corner of the cemetery where the grass often grows, we were thinking of their families who might be thinking of them alive somewhere in Europe.’
5	Moore	James Ernest	Sergeant	1605107			Flight Engineer		RAFVR	Bomber Command	103 Sqn	1944-05-03	Lancaster	III	ND411	PM:J	Elsham Wolds	22:08	Mailly-le-Camp	Hit by 1-4/gem Flak Abt 593. Crashed Beauchert at 01:05. (Nachtjagd Combat Archives 1944 Part 2 - Theo Boiten)	Killed	Beauchery-St-Martin Communal Cemetery Coll. Grave 1-3.		Lancaster ND411, piloted by Pilot Officer J. E. Holden, was shot down and crashed over Beauchery-St-Martin, whilst on a bombing raid to the German military base at Mailly-Le-Camp, on 3-4 May 1944. All the crew were killed. The Bomber Command War Diaries by Martin Middlebrook states: ‘Late on 3 May 1944, 346 Lancasters of 1 and 5 Groups along with pathfinder Mosquitoes attacked the large German military base at Mailly-Le-Camp. The control of this raid in the target area failed to operate according to plan. The initial low level markers were accurate and well backed up by Lancaster marker aircraft. The Marker leader (Wing Commander G. L. Cheshire) ordered the main force to come in and bomb but the main force Controller (Wing Commander L. C. Deane) could not transmit the order to do so to the waiting Lancasters because his VHF set was being drowned by an American Forces Broadcast and his transmitter was wrongly tuned. German fighters arrived during the delay and bomber casualties were heavy. The main attack eventually started when Deputy Controller (Squadron Leader E. N. M. Sparks) took over. Approximately 1500 tons of bombs were dropped with great accuracy. 114 barrack buildings, 47 transport sheds and some ammunition buildings in the camp were hit; 102 vehicles including 37 tanks were destroyed 218 German soldiers were killed and 156 were injured. Most of the casualties were Panzer NCO’s. There were no French casualties but some were killed when Lancaster ND411 was shot down and crashed on their house.’ This aircraft was homeward after the raid but North of its tracked course. There has been some dispute over French soldier deaths held in the barracks. The Australian Government publication, Invasion to Victory April 1944 to May 1945, states: ‘The people of Beauchery-St-Martin, a little village to the South East of Paris, also had good reason to remember the night of 4-5 May 1944. Rachel De Boisgelin, the American born wife of a local landowner, was woken up by the noise: “Many of us living near were awakened by a tremendous roar of motors, by firing and then the sky was lighted up for miles around by explosions. But at that time the Germans were masters here and anyone who stepped out of a house before five in the morning risked being shot. By the noise and the glow in the sky, when the planes came down the Germans knew what had happened and they were looking at everything before anyone else. It gives me grief to tell these painful details but the planes caught fire which made identification of those who were in them extremely difficult” RAAF Flight Sergeant Clifford Gay was in one of the planes, Lancaster ND411 of 103 Squadron. Two Lancasters came down very near to each other and of the 15 crew only one survived. The remains of the others were placed in five coffins and were buried by the villagers in a collective grave in the Beauchery Communal Cemetery.’ A local teacher, Simone Rustang wrote to the sister of Sergeant James Moore, the flight engineer in ND411: ‘Never has our village seen such a big crowd - 1800 to 2000 people. At that lovely time of the year there were plenty of lilacs and lilies of the valley also tulips and rarer flowers. The five coffins disappeared under the tulips and whilst they were all being taken to their last resting place in this peaceful corner of the cemetery where the grass often grows, we were thinking of their families who might be thinking of them alive somewhere in Europe.’
6	Sykes	Terence William	Sergeant	1576517			Navigator	1939-45 Star; Air Crew Europe Star; War Medal 1939-45	RAFVR	Bomber Command	103 Sqn	1944-05-03	Lancaster	III	ND411	PM:J	Elsham Wolds	22:08	Mailly-le-Camp	Hit by 1-4/gem Flak Abt 593. Crashed Beauchert at 01:05. (Nachtjagd Combat Archives 1944 Part 2 - Theo Boiten)	Killed	Beauchery-St-Martin Communal Cemetery Coll. Grave 1-3.		Navigator with 103 Squadron, joining with his crew directly from 11 Base on 13 April 1944, and was killed in action on his first operational sortie when Lancaster ND411, piloted by Pilot Officer J. E. Holden, was shot down and crashed over Beauchery-St-Martin, whilst on a bombing raid to the German military base at Mailly-Le-Camp, on 3-4 May 1944. All the crew were killed. The Bomber Command War Diaries by Martin Middlebrook states: ‘Late on 3 May 1944, 346 Lancasters of 1 and 5 Groups along with pathfinder Mosquitoes attacked the large German military base at Mailly-Le-Camp. The control of this raid in the target area failed to operate according to plan. The initial low level markers were accurate and well backed up by Lancaster marker aircraft. The Marker leader (Wing Commander G. L. Cheshire) ordered the main force to come in and bomb but the main force Controller (Wing Commander L. C. Deane) could not transmit the order to do so to the waiting Lancasters because his VHF set was being drowned by an American Forces Broadcast and his transmitter was wrongly tuned. German fighters arrived during the delay and bomber casualties were heavy. The main attack eventually started when Deputy Controller (Squadron Leader E. N. M. Sparks) took over. Approximately 1500 tons of bombs were dropped with great accuracy. 114 barrack buildings, 47 transport sheds and some ammunition buildings in the camp were hit; 102 vehicles including 37 tanks were destroyed 218 German soldiers were killed and 156 were injured. Most of the casualties were Panzer NCO’s. There were no French casualties but some were killed when Lancaster ND411 was shot down and crashed on their house.’ This was Sykes’ aircraft which was homeward after the raid but North of its tracked course. There has been some dispute over French soldier deaths held in the barracks. The Australian Government publication, Invasion to Victory April 1944 to May 1945, states: ‘The people of Beauchery-St-Martin, a little village to the South East of Paris, also had good reason to remember the night of 4-5 May 1944. Rachel De Boisgelin, the American born wife of a local landowner, was woken up by the noise: “Many of us living near were awakened by a tremendous roar of motors, by firing and then the sky was lighted up for miles around by explosions. But at that time the Germans were masters here and anyone who stepped out of a house before five in the morning risked being shot. By the noise and the glow in the sky, when the planes came down the Germans knew what had happened and they were looking at everything before anyone else. It gives me grief to tell these painful details but the planes caught fire which made identification of those who were in them extremely difficult” RAAF Flight Sergeant Clifford Gay was in one of the planes, Lancaster ND411 of 103 Squadron. Two Lancasters came down very near to each other and of the 15 crew only one survived. The remains of the others were placed in five coffins and were buried by the villagers in a collective grave in the Beauchery Communal Cemetery.’ A local teacher, Simone Rustang wrote to the sister of Sergeant James Moore, the flight engineer in Sykes’ aircraft: ‘Never has our village seen such a big crowd - 1800 to 2000 people. At that lovely time of the year there were plenty of lilacs and lilies of the valley also tulips and rarer flowers. The five coffins disappeared under the tulips and whilst they were all being taken to their last resting place in this peaceful corner of the cemetery where the grass often grows, we were thinking of their families who might be thinking of them alive somewhere in Europe.’ Sykes is buried alongside his crew in Beauchery Communal Cemetery, France. His medals were sent to his father, William Sykes. 24 Cartwright Road, Northampton
7	Wilson	Robert Arthur	Sergeant	1602530			Wireless Operator/Air Gunner		RAFVR	Bomber Command	103 Sqn	1944-05-03	Lancaster	III	ND411	PM:J	Elsham Wolds	22:08	Mailly-le-Camp	Hit by 1-4/gem Flak Abt 593. Crashed Beauchert at 01:05. (Nachtjagd Combat Archives 1944 Part 2 - Theo Boiten)	Killed	Beauchery-St-Martin Communal Cemetery Grave 4.		Lancaster ND411, piloted by Pilot Officer J. E. Holden, was shot down and crashed over Beauchery-St-Martin, whilst on a bombing raid to the German military base at Mailly-Le-Camp, on 3-4 May 1944. All the crew were killed. The Bomber Command War Diaries by Martin Middlebrook states: ‘Late on 3 May 1944, 346 Lancasters of 1 and 5 Groups along with pathfinder Mosquitoes attacked the large German military base at Mailly-Le-Camp. The control of this raid in the target area failed to operate according to plan. The initial low level markers were accurate and well backed up by Lancaster marker aircraft. The Marker leader (Wing Commander G. L. Cheshire) ordered the main force to come in and bomb but the main force Controller (Wing Commander L. C. Deane) could not transmit the order to do so to the waiting Lancasters because his VHF set was being drowned by an American Forces Broadcast and his transmitter was wrongly tuned. German fighters arrived during the delay and bomber casualties were heavy. The main attack eventually started when Deputy Controller (Squadron Leader E. N. M. Sparks) took over. Approximately 1500 tons of bombs were dropped with great accuracy. 114 barrack buildings, 47 transport sheds and some ammunition buildings in the camp were hit; 102 vehicles including 37 tanks were destroyed 218 German soldiers were killed and 156 were injured. Most of the casualties were Panzer NCO’s. There were no French casualties but some were killed when Lancaster ND411 was shot down and crashed on their house.’ This aircraft was homeward after the raid but North of its tracked course. There has been some dispute over French soldier deaths held in the barracks. The Australian Government publication, Invasion to Victory April 1944 to May 1945, states: ‘The people of Beauchery-St-Martin, a little village to the South East of Paris, also had good reason to remember the night of 4-5 May 1944. Rachel De Boisgelin, the American born wife of a local landowner, was woken up by the noise: “Many of us living near were awakened by a tremendous roar of motors, by firing and then the sky was lighted up for miles around by explosions. But at that time the Germans were masters here and anyone who stepped out of a house before five in the morning risked being shot. By the noise and the glow in the sky, when the planes came down the Germans knew what had happened and they were looking at everything before anyone else. It gives me grief to tell these painful details but the planes caught fire which made identification of those who were in them extremely difficult” RAAF Flight Sergeant Clifford Gay was in one of the planes, Lancaster ND411 of 103 Squadron. Two Lancasters came down very near to each other and of the 15 crew only one survived. The remains of the others were placed in five coffins and were buried by the villagers in a collective grave in the Beauchery Communal Cemetery.’ A local teacher, Simone Rustang wrote to the sister of Sergeant James Moore, the flight engineer in ND411: ‘Never has our village seen such a big crowd - 1800 to 2000 people. At that lovely time of the year there were plenty of lilacs and lilies of the valley also tulips and rarer flowers. The five coffins disappeared under the tulips and whilst they were all being taken to their last resting place in this peaceful corner of the cemetery where the grass often grows, we were thinking of their families who might be thinking of them alive somewhere in Europe.’

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