The Aircraft Crew

H.F. Le Nour, Canadian

R.E.B. Pike, Canadian

V.J. Lazier, Canadian

F.J. Judges, Canadian

W.H. Hanes, Canadian

W.W. Lankin, Canadian

E.J. Payne, British

On 21 September 1951 Mr. Albert Adans inaugurated a memorial in honour of the airmen who gave their lives for freedom. It was his pride and joy to look after this monument and the annual ceremony until his death last year. With his passing the ceremony seemed to be in jeopardy, who was going to carry on the tradition? It was at this ceremony the 50th Anniversary that his daughter, Madame Boulet (nee Adans) her husband and her sister pledged to continue their fathers dream "As long as we live we will continue these services to the young men who died for us".

The ceremony commenced with a church service in Tegelot followed by a parade of the colours through the streets of the village to the war cenotaph where a wreath laying ceremony took place. The parade included our Royal Canadian Legion Colour Party provided by Branch 003, Geilenkerchen. Also in attendance was a Canadian Military Contingent with a Colour Party, a British group and a flag from the U S Military.

Following this ceremony we went to Jalay the site of the monument to the Airman who died in the crash. A service was held on the site. Appropriate speeches from local officials, padres and military dignitaries were conducted. Colours were paraded on the site and a wreath laying ceremony completed the event.

All were invited guests for dinner at the Le Brevent in the nearby town of Verviers. The atmosphere was certainly one of friendship as we spent the next couple of hours enjoying the meal and conversation.

There were also a couple of emotional speeches. Madame Boulet had done some research and located some family members of the crew "the heroes families" as she put it. She found the brother of the pilot R.E.B. Pike but unfortunately because of health reasons he was unable to attend but his son Eric Pike and his wife were there.

Eric told me he was totally unprepared for the outpouring of genuine appreciation for what his uncle and his comrades had done for them and their country so many years ago. He continued that he had heard about his uncle from his dad and family members that he was a pilot in the war and got shot down and that was about it. It is quite unbelievable that these people know more about what happened than the family's back home and a lot of them were not even born then, they shake your hand and say thank you for our freedom its all quite overwhelming and heartwarming. His emotions all came out as he attempted to make a speech and thank everyone for attending this function and the hospitality given to him and his wife during there stay as guests. This was followed by Madame Boulet's speech equally as emotional, I was kind of glad when that part was over I was also getting all choked up or maybe it was just the wine?

Late in the afternoon Andy and I left for Geilenkirchen where we spent the next couple of days awaiting the parade to be held at Momignie, back in Belgium on 29 August. During our stay in Geilenkerchen we had the opportunity to visit Branch 003 and were well looked after by Val and her husband Wolfgang including a super barbecue.

Mr. Albert Adans	Legion Colour Party marches from the church to the town memorial	Wreath laying at the town memorial	Ceremony took place at the site and wreaths were laid

Ceremony took place at the site and wreaths were laid	Family member Eric Pike in attendance