Boyce
Crew, Haudricourt, France
Lancaster
LM218 EM-N failed to return from the second July 1944 attack on the huge
St.Leu d'Esserent V1 handling and storage facility (night of July 7/8).
P/O Kenneth Boyce's aircraft crashed 2km SW of Aumale.
Two of the crew, F/Sgt Alan Nichol and Sgt John
Parkinson, managed to evade capture with the help of French
helpers. The other five crew members were killed. After five days the
Germans allowed a local man to remove the bodies for burial in
Haudricourt Communal Cemetery.
Alan Nichol has since died. John Parkinson was among Association members
present when the memorial to the crew was unveiled on 10th July 1999
close to where his aircraft fell.
Earlier, much of the village was present at a service to commemorate the
crew - and all who gave their lives - followed by a wreath laying at the
cemetery.
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