LANCASTER LM 178 of 300 Squadron

Lori,

I hope you and your family have a wonderful time at the Freteval re-union. Please take lots of pics and share your experience when you return!

Today I am on my way to the Sombra Museum to pay a visit and show my dad (who introduced me to Sam) the wonderful display they have set up for him. Grace informed me a couple of days ago that she received a plaque from the mayor of St. Laurent de Bois making Sam an honorary citizen. If it is in the museum display, I will try to get a decent pic.

On another note, I have begun a blog called the bLogbook on The Canadian Historical Aircraft Association web-site, www.ch2a.ca to tell veteran's stories. I would very much like to add your dads' to it if you and your family are OK with that. Please let me know what you think. Thanks for staying in touch.

Cheers,
Don

 

well last weekend I met Gill + her family as well as Dad's Girl and her familly !

I met Gill+ six of her familly members at the Great War cemetery of Orleans to see the LM178 fallen . Then we drove to Orleans and visited a flew places there + had lunch .



the relatives brought some flowers for their loved ones and I brought some poppies for the children so they could display them randomly .

After lunch we drove to Saint Laurent les Bois. We first drove to the small town Memorial and saw a plaque for the LM178 crew . We also noticed a fresly displayed Canadian flag and realized someone had been there just before we did. As we were looking for the exact spot of the crash site , I knocked on several doors until Gill called me and said I should check out one particular man who had been watching us. He appeared to be the mayor and spoke English too. Despite being a Sunday, he opened the townhall for us, point the crash site on a map and offered us two booklets about the 2004 commemoration when Sam Dunseight came to St Laurent.



Note the little Canadian flag.



We then drove to the crash site north of the village and stayed a while .



The crash site, I took this angle because I thought showing the poppies would be nice

Due to a lack of time we had to proceed to Freteval in order to attend the ceremony. However the ceremony was in Villebout , some 20 km away from Freteval (village) as opposed to the Freteval (forest) . we eventually made it, although being late, but nevertheless met many great people.
This is when I met Dad's girl and when I mentioned the monument in St laurent, she said she had been the one who put the Canadian flag there! Talking of coincidence! .


More to come with more pictures too , but I have to go to work first. (as usually 24 hours in a day are not enough)

 

Thanks, Skipper! I wish I could have been there.

 

it was wonderful. I met some great people, including veterans , airmen relatives (including forum members) , historians , Resistant fighters, Witnesses and many more good people. All were very helpful . I couldn't go on both days , so I went the second day and had friends go the first. My only regret is that I missed Mr Worrall. Incidentally I also "discovered" some civilian victim graves at the Orléans cemetery. They were buried just next to the allied airmen and are clearly marked "victimes des bombardements" and dated 1944, so a new lead there too!
The airmen relative families I met are so nice. I'm really glad I went to Freteval.

 

Just wanted to say, what a great trip we had to Freteval and the surrounding areas. I personally found it incredibly humbling to meet such dedicated people, who have spent so much time (many a life time) making sure that these airmen, whether they survived or not, should not be forgotten.

Skipper, thank you for your precious time, it is greatly appreciated. You were a fantastic guide and interpreter.

Briefly meeting Maurice Greigor (I think that was his name) was wonderful and emotional. I wish I could have spent more time with him. Alas, my lack of the French language let me down in having a proper conversation with him. I should have concentrated on those French lessons at school far more than I did! Still, he has spurred me on to seek out a French evening class as I have every intention of revisiting this area and I'd love to meet Maurice again. Skipper, thanks in advance for any translation you can do on that document.

Also, huge gratitude to Christian, who in passing, mentioned that of course there was a piece from the St Laurent crash in the exhibit. Obviously, our response was of complete astonishment, as we all promptly followed him to a large piece of the plane wing at the back of the exhibition. We had all previously looked at it without realising its significance.

I'm so very glad we went. I thought this trip would possibly bring this venture to a close or perhaps a rest period, but no. I'm already starting to think about what's next.

Finally, thank you Don. Without discovering your thread and your other website descriptions of the LM178, plus your extra assistance to my questions, I would still be completely in the dark about my grandad and his fellow crew. As a result of your proactiveness in telling Sam's story, you have provided our family with an insight into Ernest Leonard's experiences. And you also indirectly pushed me on to ask my mum's cousin for 'any stuff' on my grandad, who amazingly came up trumps with many personal letters that he wrote, clearly showing what an honourable, brave man he was. I will often think of him now, when I need to be brave about something.

Anyway, that's the Oscars speech done with! Ha ha.

Gill

 

That sums it up great Gill. The funniest is that it was my good friend Christian who found large fuselage part with the roundel and I never realized it was a LM178 relic. Also meeting Mr Grugier at Villebout , a surviving witness of the crash, makes another great coincidence, doesn't it? By reading the 2004 booklet you will see him on pictures as he was a deputy mayor of Saint Laurent.
It is also the first time I met Mr Doucet (the man who took the pictures of your family at the relic) . By reading the quality panels of the Stuttgart Operations, I suspected his signature behind a lot of the research and I'm glad he was around. I work with several friends who also consider him as a first class searcher.

 

Sounds like a fantastic time was had by all. Thank you all for sharing and, Gill, thank you for your kind words.

We are having quite an event at the hangar this weekend as we roll out our Lancaster, FM212, for public viewing and to launch our "Sign The Bomber" fund-raising campaign. For a donation of $100, anyone can sign their name on designated parts of the aircraft where it will remain forever (though it will be painted over at the very last when the project is completed). I am staking a small section out on the tail where I will be signing on behalf of the crew of Lancaster LM178. I will post pics next week!

Cheers,
Don

 

In fact I just realized I was actually aware of the fuselage part as early of 2006 and had even taken a picture of it while it was on display in Blois. I had forgotten about this. I was with Christian that day too .

Don, thank you for your dedication for this crew . The signing idea is nice.

 

Hello All,
I am still in awe of the wonderful reception my sisters and I received at Freteval and surrounding area. We had been doing some research before leaving and had found pictures, letters, postcards and Christmas cards that all pertained to this time of our Dad's life. Some came to him after the war and we began trying to piece together the people and places mentioned. We had a picture and family name from the couple who sheltered Dad for the two days prior to him being moved to the Marchenoir camp. Our contact in Belgium began a search and we received word that the wife had been located and would meet with us on Sunday morning. Her husband had passed away around 1990 but she still lived in the area. This started our journey off on a very bright note.
We spent a few days touring the area and getting ourselves oriented. Visited the monument one afternoon for a private family time there. What a beautiful spot they have chosen for it.
On Saturday we arrived to a rather rainy day but with our Royal Canadian Legion poppy umbrellas we did the tour of the forest and Bellande farm. It was a real lesson in reality to walk where our Dad had walked, in not very favourable conditions. It brought home to me in a big way that his time there would have been at best uncomfortable, frightening and very stressful. Because he never spoke very much of his time there, I never pictured it as living in such rough conditions, wondering if you were going to be discovered at any moment or if you would ever see your family again. Thanks to those brave members of the Maquis who risked their lives and the lives of their families, he was able to come home and live a great life. It was humbling to have so many there on the Saturday and Sunday approach us to say thank you to us because they couldn't say it to Dad, for risking his life to help liberate them. The common theme of the comments was "Why would he do this for us". As I don't know exactly why my Dad would I can only assume he felt the need to help his fellow man from oppression and injustice. Not sure if I am telling all of this well but I hope you can understand how much of an impact this had on all of us. We stayed for the evening of drinks, food and conversation (even though we don't speak French, we all managed quite well) and went home late.
Sunday morning saw us up bright and early for our meeting with Madame Grillon and some of her family. We spent about an hour or so with her. She has just turned 88 which means she would only have been about 18 when they helped Dad. It was amazing to sit with her and listen to her act as if what she and her husband did was not a big deal. She also told us where the actual farm was and so we went there after taking pictures and sharing hugs and thanks. This was the highlight of our trip! The actual farm is very close to the Marchenoir Forest and we now believe that Dad was first in this camp and that he and Sam Dunseith were taken together to the Freteval camp in a few days. We were graciously allowed by the owner to wander the farmyard and take pictures after we explained why we were there. He was very interested in the story and said that he was the 2nd owner since the Grillon family and didn't know much of the history. He also indicated that he would do some research and see if he could turn up any further information. So off to the 2nd day of the ceremonies and another fun day of meeting incredible people, connecting with other evaders and Resistence members families and of course, Skipper (so nice to meet you). The service, speeches and laying of wreaths was very moving but I personally found the releasing of 152 pigeons and the planes passing over the best. We also had a surprise visit from the owner of the farm who had located an 90 year old gentleman who actually remembered the day they found Dad. He said they hid him in a cart and took him to the farm that way and that he stayed hidden there for 2 days before the Maquis came for him. If only we could have had the time to visit with this gentleman as well!
So here we are at home once again with so many stories to tell our families. We presented our Mom with the replica of the monument and the earth from the forest attached that was given to our family by the committee. My sister also put a small stone from the forest on it.
She loves it!
Would love to attach some pics but can't seem to figure out how. Can anyone advise?

Dad'sGirl (Lori)

 

Given you have a google email address
Get a free Picsaweb album or whatever. https://support.google.com/picasa/answer/156347?hl=en
Post them there then link to them here. 5 minute learning curve.

We very much look forward to seeing them!

 

Thanks for your post, Lori! It sounds like it was a wonderful experience. I look forward to seeing some of your pictures.

Cheers,
Don

 

Hi Lori , nice to have you back on the forum. It has been a privilege meeting you , Gill and the others at Freteval .

To post pictures , you can't post directly from a computer to a forum (at least not on a large scale) . You need to go to a buffer site like Fred mentioned (or photobucket, imageshack etc....) and post you pictures there. Once they are there, all you need to do is copy and paste the image link here. It's easy and it's free and once you have it you can post any pic on any forum, so it's quite useful .

 

At 6:15 PM EST today, 70 years to the minute after LM178 was attacked, I signed the names of all of her crew underneath the rear turret of Lancaster FM212, where they will remain forever. Rest in peace, gentlemen. There is rarely a day goes by that I don't think of you.

 

Rest in peace LM178.x

 

Great initiative Don !

Lest we forget!

Thank you all for your constant dedication for this fine crew.

 

A great rendering by Piotr Forkasiewicz of LM178 running up her engines before her last mission.

http://<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/big-daddy/15014486340" title="Running-Engines_Preview by dxtopher, on Flickr"><img src="https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5555/15014486340_a9d88cc65c_s.jpg" width="75" height="75" alt="Running-Engines_Preview"></a>

 

Wow, I can't believe that I haven't checked in here in over a year. I was giving a tour at the CH2A hangar the other day and was asked by one of the guests how I got involved with the museum, I told them about meeting Sam Dunseith and learning the whole story of Lancaster LM178 and her crew. So I told them the story and when I got to the part where Pilot Bill Robinson and Navigator Jo Forman are blown out of the cockpit, he said, "Wait! Jo Forman who was a teacher in Sault Ste. Marie after the war?? He was my teacher and football coach!" He then went on to tell how Jo's watch was eventually returned by a local French citizen and we talked for over an hour more after the tour. Life sometimes is just amazing. This story continues to touch people everywhere.

 

Hi Big Daddy. A small world indeed. I saw some relics from LM178 the other day while on a visit to the Blois museum. I heard the part of shown fuselage was used in farm after the war to make part of a roof for a barn. Amazing you met one of Jo's former pupils. The watch story is still quite remembered in the vicinity. I haven't been back to Faldingworth for ages. I was invited to a meeting there last year, but I totally forgot about it until months after it was over.... I still feel bad about it.

 

Hi Skipper,

My wife and I went to the UK last September, rented a car in Cambridge and drove up to Bomber County. After a lot of searching, we found the old Faldingworth perimeter track and followed it around to the end of the runway. It was a very emotional moment for me to find the monument, seeing the list of aircraft names that were lost, including LM178. It had been raining all day and when I turned around to look down the main runway, the clouds opened and a ray of sunshine lit up a portion of it, sending goosebumps down my spine. I could almost hear the roar of Merlin engines and feel the ground shake and picture them taking off, one after the other, flying right over the spot we were standing on. An unforgettable moment. I have a small piece of the runway on my bureau as a keepsake. May they all rest in peace.

 

Damn we could have there. When I went I brought a spar from another 300 squadron Lancaster and donated it . Part of it was incorporated in the monument. Luckily I was drven so I didn't have to search for the place as it is really in the middle of nowhere. I can imagine it took you a while to find it.