600 (City of London) Squadron Remember Fallen in The Netherlands

07 May 2013

A group of Royal Air Force Reservists from 600 (City of London) Squadron laid wreaths on the graves of volunteer airmen from their Squadron who lost their lives fighting in the skies over Rotterdam during the Second World War.

On the 10^th May 1940 six Blenheim fighter aircraft from 600 (City of London) Sqn flew a fateful mission to Rotterdam that resulted in just one aircraft returning and leaving seven airmen dead.
Warrant Officer Shobha Earl of 600 Sqn could see how the volunteers in 1940 were probably very similar to the Reservists of today,
“They as Auxiliaries then were probably no different to what we are now. They had a call to help the RAF, they’d been trained to do a job and they probably never even gave it a second thought.
“I imagine they would have said ‘right, we’re on duty, we’ve been given a job, crack on, let’s do it’. And to honest that’s we do these days. All the Reservists that volunteer do it because they want to do it and they’re mad keen for it”.
Unlike many war graves, the airmen that died were buried in church cemeteries close to where their aircraft crashed and their graves have been tended by local communities ever since.
One of the airmen killed was Pilot Officer ‘Bob’ Echlin from Ottawa who moved to England in 1936 to become an insurance underwriter for Lloyds of London and later joined the RAF as a volunteer auxiliary. His aircraft came down near the village of Piershil in The Netherlands and he was buried by the Dutch Army with full military honours in the village’s Dutch Reformed Church.
It remains the only war grave in the cemetery and is fiercely protected by the villagers to this day. In the past The Commonwealth War Graves Commission offered to move the grave to an official war cemetery. The village refused saying “But he is our airman”.
Senior Aircraftman ‘Doc’ Looseley was chosen to lay the wreath,
“It was a huge privilege to lay a wreath, simply these guys are heroes.”
Servaas Stoop, Mayor of Korendijk, which includes the village of Piershil, explained why Pilot Officer Echlin’s grave is so important to the local community,
“Year after year we remember the sacrifices all the people that maintained freedom in the World and Robert Echlin was one of them and he shall be remembered for all time. We are proud that we can maintain his grave.”

Each year in early May, The Netherlands holds ceremonies of remembrance to commemorate the 10^th May 1940, the day the country was invaded by Germany, and the 5^th May 1945, the day the country was liberated by allied forces.
Detachment Commander Flt Lt Dwayne Dawson recognised the value of knowing the Squadron history,
“This is where reality actually hits us. We read about the history of the Squadron and we see it in books but when we come and see where the events took place it gives us a real solid connection. It also gives us lessons for the future and raises the standards we need to be able to deliver should we ever face similar challenges ourselves.”
600 (City of London) Squadron is today based at Royal Air Force Northolt in West London and regularly sees its volunteer Reservists deployed on front line duties in Afghanistan and other parts of the World.
Editor: Pilot Officer Peter Lisney
Photographs:
WO Shobha
Senior Aircraftman ‘Doc’ Looseley
RAF/MOD Crown Copyright 2013