Eighty years ago, a 61 Royal Air Force Squadron Lancaster crashed into a meadow in the village of Givry, Hainaut, Belgium. Of the eight men on board (7 British and 1 Australian), none survived the disaster. The Airmen are buried in the cemetery of Chièvres.
The plane had just returned from a bombing mission in Plzen (Czechoslovakia) and had been hit by a German fighter as it flew over Belgium to its base in Skellingthorpe (UK).
Three years ago, two young people from the village of Givry had the idea of building a monument to the memory of the fallen airmen near them. When their project came to fruition, Frédéric and Julien Gaillard commissioned the association «The Belgians Remember Them» to organize the inauguration ceremony of what has become, thanks to their tenacity and perseverance, the Givry Memorial.
You are already invited to participate in the unveiling ceremony in Givry on 17 April 2023 at 11.00 am.
From right to left: Frédéric and Julien Gaillard, the two creators of the Memorial of Givry and their parents