Chief Warrant Officer Dan Ray
Chief Warrant Officer Dan Ray of the Canadian Air Force
It is with great pleasure that I stand before you today at this commemoration ceremony for the crew of a 103 RAF Squadron Wellington that perished in your area 17 June 1941 and more specifically, the second pilot, Sgt Douglas MacVicar a 23 year old member of the RCAF from Mount Royal, in the province of Quebec, Canada. He along with the other 5 crew members gave up their lives that night for a cause they felt deserved this ultimate sacrifice.
Sixty-eight years ago, almost to the day, this crew of six young men between the ages of 21 and 26 began their operations day, as they had many times before, late in the day. Bomber operations were carried out by the Allies at night as it provided the most protection from enemy forces while flying over occupied Europe. They started with their flying meal, normally steak and eggs, they attended the operations briefing where they found out what their mission was for that night, they received their operational kit, were transported to their aircraft and finally awaited their departure, normally just at dusk so that they could still see the taxiways and runway.
Wellington N2849 with its six member crew took off at around 22:30 hrs from Newton Air Base in the English county of Nottinghamshire. Their mission was to bomb harbour installations on the Rhine River in the city of Duisburg 600 km away and then to drop propaganda pamphlets onto the cities of Gladbeck and Krefeld on their return trip.
Arriving over Duisburg they were forced to drop there bomb load blind due to ground fog and missed their aiming point. At this point of the war, accuracy in bombing was minimal with only 5% of aircraft bombing within 20 km of the target. Above Duisburg, their Wellington came under attack from flak batteries as well as night fighters.
It is not known whether Wellington N2849 received damage over Duisburg, but it is known that somewhere over the Soerendonk, Netherlands / Hamont/Achel, Belgium regions, on its way back to England, they were intercepted by a German night fighter.
This courageous crew of young men willingly gave up their loves, ambitions, hopes, and dreams at 2:25 am on 17 June 1941 so that we, 68 years later, could come together and celebrate their short lives without fear and in a free and open way. Because of their sacrifice, we can now drive to all the locations they flew over in Germany, The Netherlands and Belgium that dark night, across open borders and safe with the thought that we are amongst friends – what a worthwhile sacrifice they made.
I would also, at this time, like to pay homage to the three recently commemorated fliers, of Lancaster ED488, most notably, Flying Officer David Allen Power from Kamloops, in the province of British Columbia, Canada. These brave men, as well, gave up their loves, ambitions, hopes and dreams freely in this same area on 2 Feb 1943.
I am so proud to be able to commemorate the lives of such brave men, and thank The RAF Memorial Committee for allowing us to be here today and more specifically I would like to thank the people of Hamont-Achel for their years of dedication to ensure our young men are remembered as they lie far away from home.
