Burgemeester C.J.M. (Kees) de Bruin, Papendrecht
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onthulling informatiebord Lancasterplein - 4-5-2015

Zeer toepasselijk werd op de 4e mei bij het Lancaster monument in de Oostpolder een informatiebord geplaatst en onthult, dat meer vertelt over wat zich daar in de Tweede Wereldoorlog afspeelde en wie er de dood gevonden hebben. De onthulling geschiedde door de dochter van de navigator van de Lancaster Ted Line, mrs. Linda Ann Line, gehuwd Kennedy.

 

" Ladies and gentlemen, dear friends

Almost 10 years ago, at the unveiling of the Lancaster Monument in 2005, I said:

'Today, the 21st of July, is a day to remember'; and still it is. It is a day that many will never forget. And that certainly goes for the group of people here with us today. The 21st of July, 1944, is the day that the Lancaster bomber ‘Popeye’ met its fate.

During World War II, many brave Allied crew members undertook countless flights, also flying over the heads of the citizens of Papendrecht. Some of these flights were made by Lancaster bomber crews. In July of 1944, several of these crew members, having already risked their lives dozens of times, were about to go on leave. 

Fortunately, among all the terrible stories from World War II, there are also a few fine things to relate. Thanks in part to the efforts of the Lancaster Popeye's crew, Germany's dominion over Holland and over large parts of Europe could be broken approximately a year later. Without those fearless, heroic military efforts, we couldn’t join together in freedom, here, under these circumstances 70 years after the liberation. And all these 70 years later, we are still incredibly grateful for those efforts. Perhaps all the more so. Because we realise what a gift that freedom is. A gift that we must treasure and safeguard, time and again. 
 

After 1945, Papendrecht quickly made contact with the crew's surviving family members. These contacts grew into valuable friendships, including countless letters and visits.

In 1997, the Lancaster Popeye foundation was established in Papendrecht to bring attention to the final recovery of the aircraft and to honour the Lancaster crew. On 21 July 2004, exactly 60 years after the crash, the monument in their memory was unveiled. Now, ten years later, we join together once again in thankfulness - gathered around the Lancaster Monument to commemorate the seven crew members who died.

One of them was Ted Line. His daughter, Linda Kennedy, is here with us today. Together with her brother Peter Child, she described the life of Sergeant Edward John Line (nickname: Ted). With great respect, I have taken the liberty of quoting from this.

Quote:

Ted finished his training as a Navigator and Pilot in Canada, returned to England and joined the RAF. He met Marie Ballinger in January 1944; it was love at first sight ! In March 1944, Ted was exicited, to be transferred to Bomber Command, Squadron 115, flying heavy Lancaster Bombers. Ted was assigned to the crew of the Lancaster nicknamed ‘Popeye’.

After a whirlwind romance, and with a window of 2 days between missions, Ted and Marie married on May 16, 1944 at the Lamb Hotel, Ely. The flight crew of ‘Popeye’ were al in attendance, as it was 5 minutes form where they were based at Witchford. It was too far for family to come. Nobody had a camera, so there were no wedding photographs, just signatures on the wedding certificate of the pilot Colin Clarey and Herbert Charles Luton, also a member of the crew. The newly-weds had a weekend honeymoon in the hotel and then Marie went home to share her news with everyone. Two months later, Ted was thrilled, when Marie discovered that she was pregnant. The couple had only spent about 3 weekends together.

Ted wrote Marie often. In a letter dated June 6, 1944, the day of the D-Day invasion, he describes the pre-dawn bombing of the French coast, to silence the big guns.

'It was daylight when we got there, dawn had just broken and it was a marvelous sight to see the solid stream of Lancs (there were over 1000 heavy bombers, including Lancasters, in te raid) black, against the white cloud. We were the privileged ones, because ours was the last attack before the boys landed, as we approached we could see the hundreds of boats waiting for us to finish. We bombed and as we turned for home the boats were approaching the coast, there was nog gunfire. The guns we had bombed were so very quiet'.

Ted also wrote a letter on 20th July to tell Marie that he was going to be briefed for a night mission that must be important, as the odd 'cooky' was on board. This was code for the biggest bomb that was made. He thought that they may be back on the Third Reich that night;  and since it was their 27th sortie, with a lot of major hits, they may be finished at 30 sorties. In his letter he says that 'Col (the pilot, Colin Clary), thinks we have a good chance of finishing at 30'. That was only 3 more to go and it would be all over for them. They could relax, then, for a while. He told her not to worry and said ' I’ll always be loving you…always.'

In fact,  'Popeye' was one of 150 planes sent to destroy the oil fields at Homberg, which would ground the German planes indefinitely. The oil field burned when all the Lancaster fleet turned for home, amid anti-aircraft fire, feeling satisfied that their 27th sortie was a success. Popeye was “tail gun Charlie”, the last plane out, and lookout for the others, when a German plane shot the right wing. The pilot, Colin Clarey, managed to keep the plane flying low, until they could find a place to land. When a large field was located for landing, Colin started the decent, but the wing was too badly damaged and the mighty plane crashed into the ground; . . . nose first.

Marie received the letter from Ted at the same time as the telegram from the Air Ministry to inform her, that her husband’s plane had crashed in Holland and he was missing in action.

Still, with no definite news about Ted, Marie gave birth to an 8 pound baby girl, Linda Ann Line. It must have been a sign that Ted would 'always be loving her, . . .always'

-it was February 14th; . . . VALENTINES DAY!

And that's how we experience the contrast between the ultimate fate of her father and the life of Linda, who is here with us now.

Linda, we owe a debt of deep respect to your father. And you: you are always very welcome here!

Ladies and gentlemen, dear fellows, in the last decades, with the help of the Dutch people, Marie and Linda have made many visits to Papendrecht to visit Ted’s grave.
 

And in the end, we read that Marie had:  ‘an undying respect for the Dutch people who reached out to her in the initial difficult years and made her feel supported and welcome in their country.’

To me, these words emphasise - as I pointed out - that, fortunately, even terrible events can also yield positive results.

Once again, I would like to thank everyone who has contributed throughout the years to the dignified remembrance of these brave crew members. I would like to honour the crew of the Lancaster and their family members and relatives for their efforts and for their sacrifices. As it is written on the Lancaster Monument:

 

 'We shall continue to remember them'.

Thank you for your attention"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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