Westerlo Commemoration
550 Squadron Commemoration May 2018
Below is a selection of photographs from the Commemoration Service in Westerlo, Belgium in May 2018.
Click on individual pictures to view the larger image.
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Saturday 26th May 2018
Schoonselhof Military Cemetery, Antwerp
A visit to Schoonselhof Military Cemetery, Antwerp where the graves of five of the crew are located (the bodies of two of the crew were never recovered and so they are remembered on the walls at the Runnymede Memorial in Windsor).
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Dinner, Hotel Geerts
In the evening there was a dinner at Hotel Geerts.
Photos to follow.
Sunday 29th May 2018
Voortkapel Church
10.30 Service in Voortkapel Church followed in the afternoon by a Service and Wreath laying at the Memorial Stone.
The commemorative events today were joined by a party from the Rebecq Association and representatives from the Royal British Legion (Antwerp branch).
Ildiko Van Dyck sang two pieces in Voortkapel Church.
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Memorial Stone
After the Church service a convoy of WWII vehicles transported people from the Church to the Memorial Stone. Local school children rode in horse-drawn carts.
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There followed a Remembrance Service at the Memorial Stone attended by some 200 people. Belgium Civil and Military dignitaries took part, and local school children told the story, in Flemish and English, of the Hinde crew lost to Westerlo and placed crosses in memory of the aircrew. Representatives from Sint Niklaas and Rebecq also attended, as did the Association representatives from the UK.
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Lunch
A lunch was held after returning from the Memorial Stone in the Polyvalente Zaal. Following this the UK visitors dispersed some to return home after a number of days in Belgium commemorating various 550 crews, and the remainder to return the following day.
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