Monument voor de bemanning van Wellington X9619 BL-M 40 Sqn

Wellington X9619 BL-M van 40 Sqdn
Toestel stortte neer in de nacht van 12 op 13 oktober 1941 bij ‘Les culots’ te Sautin.

6 bemanningsleden lieten het leven en rusten op het Dinant (Citadelle) Military Cemetery:

P/O Ian M.V. Field (RNZAF), pilot
Sgt Paul F. Collis (RAF), pilot
Sgt Richard A. Dundon (RAF), wireless operator/airgunner
F/Sgt Thomas L. Duxbury (RCAF), wireless operator/airgunner
Sgt Henry R.G. Chapman (RAF), airgunner
F/O Eric J. Sugg (RAAF), airobserver

Sautin2_From L to R:  Mr René Dubray, ex-RAF, RAFA Belgium member and the man behind the erection of the monument;

                 Mrs Camille Malcotte-Gehenot, RAFA Florennes Chairman;

                 Mrs Moira Drybrough, from Toronto, a relative of F/S TL Duxbury (WOp/AG) RCAF, buried in Dinant (Citadelle) MC with the rest of the crew (Wellington Ic X9619 BL-M of 40 Sq, RAF Alconbury)

Designed by local artist Mrs. Hélène BAILY, the memorial stands at a place called ‘Les Culots’, just outside the village. Next to it is the field which saw the crash of the doomed Wimpey.

Sautin7_UK representative, Mr David Mole, whose father, F/O DJ Mole (WOp) RAFVR rests in the small communal cemetery at Taillette, nr. Rocroi (French Ardennes). Halifax III LV818 ZA-F of 10 Sq crashed there on 18 Dec 1944 with the loss of all on board (this is a rather complex affair as the crewmembers are buried in three different locations in France and Belgium, having been initially recovered and interred by a US unit at their provisional burial ground at Fosses-la-Ville, near Namur).

Het monument staat op het kruispunt van twee wegen in Sautin, nl. de ‘Voies De Renlies’ en de ‘Les Culots’ (de straatnaam ‘Impasse du Wellington’ is geen officiële benaming alhoewel er een straatnaambord staat).