Commonwealth War Graves Communal Cemetery Spijkenisse

Spijkenisse Communal Cemetery contains the graves of two airmen of the Auxiliary Air Force, Pilot Officer M.H. Anderson and Leading Aircraftman H.C.W. Hawkins.

They died on 10 may 1940 when they, as part of the B fleet of the 600 City of London Squadron, tried to attach the German troops at Waalhaven airforce-base. The six Bristol Blenheim F1 planes were attacked by German fighters during their attack and five of them were shot down.

Seven British airmen died. Of these, five are buried on Crooswijk General Cemetery in Rotterdam and Piershil Protestant Churchyard. Since 1940 the graves of Anderson and Hawkins are maintained by the same family.

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Source

• Text: Pieter Schlebaum & Robin van Geene
• Photos: Dick de Bruijne (1, 3), Fedor de Vries (2)