Memorial Lancaster LL851

This monument was inaugurated on May 25, 2019 in memory of the 7 young men
of the Royal Air Force and Royal Canadian Air Force who lost their lives 75 years ago on the night of 21 to 22 May 1944 when their heavy bomber of the type AVRO LANCASTER with code LL851-BQ-V "London's Pride and Joy" was shot down above the Heimolen district.
The Lancaster LL851-BQ-V took off from North Killingholme air base (Lincolnshire, UK) on May 21, 1944 at 10:40 PM for a bombardment of the industrial zone of
Duisburg in the Ruhr area Germany.

Despite a thick cloud cover, the target was carefully hit and all industrial activities in that zone were eliminated for one year. During the return flight the plane was shot down by a German night fighter and crashed on May 22, 1944 at 2:15 am here at Heimolen near the Weverstraat, 500 meters from this location.
All crew members of the "DUKELOW CREW" were killed.
They were recovered and buried the next day by the German occupiers at the Tereken municipal cemetery in Sint-Niklaas. The Lancaster LL851-BQ-V carried out this operation, together with the Lancaster DV-309-BQ-S, which was shot down in Westerlo the same night.
They were both part of the 550th squadron.

At the bottom is an English verse by Laurence Binyon from "For the Fallen" (1914), translated:
"Age won't hurt them, while we will get older.
Don't worry about the years; no guilt to bear.
Whenever the sun sets, or rises in the morning:
we will remember them. "

At the top of the monument are the names and photos of the crew:
Pilot/Officer Peter James Dukelow (Pilot)
Pilot/Officer Leslie Ronald Dunham (Navigator)
Pilot/Officer Herman Earl MacDuff (Mid Upper Gunner - RCAF)
Sergeant Donald Sydney Bruty (Flight Engineer)
Sergeant Sydney Alfred Jarvis (Rear Gunner)
Sergeant Leslie Robert Towsley (Bomb aimer - RCAF)
Sergeant David Alfred Mayo (Wireless Radio Operator)

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Source

• Text: TracesOfWar
• Photos: Marie-Christine Vinck