Commonwealth War Graves Papendrecht

The Papendrecht General Cemetery contains seven Commonwealth war graves from World War II. All seven crew members of the Lancaster MK-III no ND 913 ‘Popeye’ of the 115th Squadron died on 21 July 1944, when the Lancaster exploded.

The bomber was on its way back on the night of 20-21 July 1944 after bombing oil targets at Bomberg. Presumably, the plane caught fire from a night fighter or possibly from FLAK fire. Just after midnight, the burning plane emerged from behind the clouds over Papendrecht crashed and exploded.

The wreckage came down on the border between Papendrecht and Sliedrecht on the Papendrecht side.

The next day, Germans searched for the remains of the crew members. A body of only one crew member was recovered, only body parts of five other crew members were found. They were buried two days after the crash. Of the seventh crew member, mortal remains were not found until a week later during recovery. Initially, four crew members could be identified. In March 1946 w all the remains identified by the RAF identification service.

The names of the crew of the Lancaster as listed below received an epitaph from their families:

Flying Officer Colin Mervyn Clarey
30 years of age
Royal Australian Air Force
‘Our Daddy and family hero ever remembered by his loved ones’

Flight Sergeant Charles Alfred Barlow
19 years of age
Royal Australian Air Force
‘Our hero. A devoted son and only brother of Beryl’

Wireless Operator sergeant Douglas Hancock
20 years of age
Royal Air Force
‘As we loved him so we miss him shedding many a silent tear. Dad and family’

Air Gunner sergeant Arthur Walter Middleton
21 years of age
Royal Air Force
‘In loving memory of him we hold so dear’

Navigator Sergeant Edward John Line
21 years of age
Royal Air Force
‘Beloved husband of Marie and father of Linda ever in our thoughts’

Flight Engineer Sergeant Herbert Charles Luton
25 years of age
Royal Air Force
‘Resting until the daybreak and the shadows flee away’

Air Bomber Flight Sergeant Samuel Edward Kirkland
25 years of age
Royal Air Force
‘Greather love hath no man. Ever in the thoughts of mam, dad, brothers and sisters’

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Source

• Text: Sebastiaan Vonk
• Photos: Arjan Vrieze (1, 2), Jan de Jager (3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)