Memorial Crew Bomber Short Stirling

Memorial plaque on the front of the house situated Haldertstraat 240 at Houwaart, to commemorate the crew of the crashed bomber Short Stirling EE880 OJ-O.
Tekst on the plate:
"On the night of the 28th-29th of June 1944, Cologne was bombed by 608 allied planes. One of them was a Short Stirling of the 149th East India RAF Squadron built by Short & Harland Ltd. in Belfast. The fourth flight was to be fatal fort he plane and its crew. The tail and left wing were hit by flak. On its way back to Lakenheath (England), it was shot down by a German Messerschmitt Bf 110. Some crewmembers were able to bail out above Tielt. Navigator Peter Butterworth was fataly injured and fell with his parachute on the Diestsesteenweg. WAG Ivan A. Mears surrendered tot he ennemy. Flight Engineer Denis C. Foster was retrieved from occupied territory by the resistance. The plane crashed behind the house of Gustaaf Verrijt, where Tail Gunner Bernard S. Swainston and Mid Upper Gunner Arthur Derbyshire were found dead. Commander A.R. Porter and Air Bomber L. B. McCallum remain missing in action. Three crewman are buried at the Houwaart Churchyard. Only New-Zealander Mears survived the war and visited his fallen crewmates and Gustaaf Verrijt in 1998. Gustaaf died in 2004, nearly 100 years old."

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