THE CEREMONIES AND MEMORIALS
Already on November 11, 1948, the district of Boxbergheide started the annual celebration at the concrete cross together with the school children. In 1968, the Rev. Pastor BOONEN, the first priest of the district, contacted the local associations to collect money to establish a simple but dignified memorial. On October 25, 1969, the first major celebration took place, as a part of the British Week in Genk. Many British representatives, a delegation of the military airfield of Kleine Brogel (25 km N-E of Genk), many associations and the local people took part in it.
Afterwards, at a cafe table, a new organization was created by the local butcher Jean LOIX (†), François BEELEN and the Englishman Albert TAYLOR. TAYLOR was a veteran of WW II of the British Eighth Army who served in North Africa under the command of Field Marshal Montgomery and he was also present at the invasion of 1944 here in our region. While staying in Genk with his military department, he met Marie-Jose MEERMANS in Winterslag and married her after the war. Meanwhile, I want to emphasize this, Albert TAYLOR has personally been awarded by the Queen with the MBE (Member of the British Empire) for his great commitment to the case of fallen British nationals.
Of course the organization could fall back on the preparations and contacts of Miss Daisy GIELEN (†1969) and of Rev. Pastor BOONEN. We gratefully mention here the workers who were there from the beginning : Louis BEERDEN, Louis BEEKEN, Florent IVEN and Cheslaw MACHOFKA and perhaps there are a few others who we may involuntarily forget at this moment. The final birth of OCHB (Oprichtend Comité Heidekruisje Boxbergheide - Founding Committee Heather Cross Boxbergheide) was in January 1970 under the first President Jean LOIX, first secretary Rev. Brother - Director Lucien BOS and under the protection of the governor of the province of Limburg, Louis ROPPE and with Mayor Gerard BIJNENS as Honorary Chairman.
The first great meeting of the OCHB, on which all persons and authorities involved were invited, took place in the community house of Boxbergheide “De Schalm”, on May 8, 1970. Thanks to the Rev. Pastor Boonen and to the goodwill of the diocese of Liège, the organization obtained for free the area in the Boxbergstraat on which the memorial would be established, a few meters from the crash site.
The Genk sculptor R. Mailleux was asked to draw a sketch:. he came with a plan for a sober memorial, but still with lots of charisma. It would be built in rubble measuring 6.80 m x 2.20 m. For the foundation and the wall itself, 12.80 m³ of concrete was required. Since everything had to be done in quite a short time, the municipal services of Genk supported the project with materials and help for the construction and the plantings. Many volunteers from the neighborhood gave a helping hand.
The inauguration took place on September 27, 1970 in the presence of many British and Belgian personalities. The first Regiment Caribiniers Cyclists of Spich took part, having accepted the patronage the day before. On this simple, yet impressing wall, the names of the three deceased airmen are marked forever. And the following text has been added: "LAAT DIT MEMORIAAL EEN BLIJVEND AANDENKEN ZIJN VOOR HEN BEHORENDE TOT DE R.A.F. DIE HUN LEVEN LIETEN OP LIMBURGSE BODEM (This memorial is to be a permanent reminder for those of the R.A.F. who gave their lives on Limburg soil). Fortunately, we kept the concrete cross and placed it in front. On the back there is still the date "1943", but on the front now the date of "31/08/1941" is shown. Since 1969, each year in September, the 101st Sqdn (101 SQUADRON ASSOCIATION in the lap of BOMBER COMMAND ASS.), now brothers in arms, participate with several military and civilian associations in the commemoration.
These airmen are not only honoured in Genk; on November 1, 1987, a memorial was inaugurated in Diest near the one of the Resistance on the Weerstandsplein (Resis-tance Square). It bears the names of 39 airmen who were buried in Diest. At the Military Cemetery of Schaffen rest 20 airmen, 15 are British, four Canadian and l Australian. In London a plaque commemorates the 2383 soldiers who safely returned thanks to the escape lines. It represents a wounded airman amidst the beams of four searchlights, helped safely down the road by a man and a woman.
Author: Lucien Bogers. Translation: Jan Zoons
SOURCES;
- The Bomber Command War Diaries (M. Middlebrook & C. Everitt)
- Sergeant LA WARBURTON
- Richard Peet, Schaffen.
- Information from the OCHB Genk, the Ministry of Defense, Londen and APBB, Brussels 7