Intimate Tribute to Sergeant Leslie Herbert Stride Urban Cemetery Eeklo Belgium Thursday, September 18, 2014 Walter Cami, Hon.SAR
No-one had said goodbye to my poor brother, until now... No-one had said goodbye to my poor brother, until now HLN Joeri Seymortier Thursday, September 18, 2014, Eeklo, Belgium : the 92-year-old Enid Scillitoe from Gloucester in the UK, for the first time in her life was in the ability to visit the grave of her brother Leslie Herbert Stride. No less than 74 years ago her 19 year old brother was killed during the Second World War after his plane was shot down over Lovendegem, near Eeklo. Sources in Belgium and the United Kingdom Editing / merging / translation : HET NIEUWSBLAD, Erwin Mynsberghe HET LAATSTE NIEUWS, Joeri Seymortier CitizenNews - GLOUCESTER CITIZEN : Walter Cami
Terry Davies UK Sergeant Leslie Herbert Stride was the Wireless Operator/Air Gunner on Blenheim N3551 of 53 Squadron Royal Air Force During those early days of the Second World War Sergeant Leslie Herbert Stride was a young man of barely 19 when he fought for our freedom in 1940 during those early days of the Second World War. He joined the Royal Air Force and was crew member of one of the six planes, a Blenheim bomber, which took off in Kent on July 14, 1940, they flew in the direction of Belgium, said Chief Warrant Officer Frank Raeman. Their mission was to bomb an oil depot near Ghent. But the airplane of sergeant Stride and his two comrades never came back to their base in England. On the flight back, above the Meetjesland, namely the broad rural area around Eeklo, they were shelled by German flak. The pilot, Alastair Dyson Panton, quickly noticed that it would be impossible to get his plane and crew to Britain, tried to make a crash landing. From the skies above the municipality of Lovendegem, East Flanders, Belgium, the pilot saw a strip of land where he tried to land his heavily damaged Blenheim bomber. But during the crash landing the plane broke in two and caught fire. Flying Officer A.D. Panton DFC and Sergeant A.E. Farrow survived the crash, they were burned severely but could barely save themselves and were taken prisoner by the German enemy. Unfortunately Sergeant Leslie Stride was killed in action. His lifeless body was removed from the heavily damaged aircraft. A few days later, he was buried with full military honors by the Germans on the urban cemetery of Eeklo, where today his grave still is.
Sergeant Leslie Herbert Stride is one of the fifteen Commonwealth burials of the Second World War who has his final resting place on the Eeklo Urban Cemetery. Walter Cami, Hon.SAR His final resting place, the farewell The Longford pensioner finally got the chance to visit her brother s grave more than 74 years after he was shot down over Belgium. The 92-year-old travelled from Redlands Acre Care Home to Eeklo in Belgium where her brother Sgt Leslie Stride is buried. Mrs Scillitoe was driven to Belgium by her friend Terry Davies and his wife Maggie, from Highnam, who both were touched by her story. I am deeply moved, Enid responded, when she was on September 18, 2014, standing for the first time after 74 years in front of her beloved brother s grave. Now that I have visited the grave of my brother, it really gives me peace of mind. I know now that he has a nice last resting place and that all this time there has been well taken care of him, a place where he is commemorated in a very beautiful way. I still can not believe that today I finally can say 'goodbye' to my brother. I remember very well the last time I saw him, it was at our house in Gloucester in the spring of 1940, when I took him in my arms for the last time I never thought it really would be the last time! That was on April 27, 1940, the 21 st birthday of my other brother. Leslie just came back from a mission in France and he had brought a bottle of champagne for his old brother. Then he left with his team to Belgium and some time later we were told that he was killed. It was a terrible time, especially my mother was devastated. The war had just begun, and Leslie was only nineteen
Losing a relative in the Second World War without properly saying goodbye was a heartbreaking ordeal for Enid Scillitoe s family. My two other brothers also have served in the R.A.F. and I joined the Women's Royal Air Force where I was a radio operator. The medals we posthumously have received after the war, are going to the R.A.F.-Museum after I'm deceased. Terry Davies UK Why she has decided traveling to Eeklo at the age of 92 and something close to 500 kilometers from her home in Gloucester, thereon Enid Scillitoe says with a reassuring and tender gesture the following : A few years back my friend Terry Davies came to live in Gloucester, a retired Air Commodore of the Royal Air Force. We got talking and I told him about my brother who was killed during the Second World War and who s buried somewhere in Belgium. He did about three years of research on the circumstances of the crash, on which we decided to travel to Eeklo. I'm not sure whether this was a brave or foolish decision on my 92 years, but this trip meant a lot to me! We are very well welcomed in Eeklo, it was better than I had ever expected. The moment of tribute, finally after 74 years Belgian authorities rolled the red carpet out for Mrs Scillitoe, with standard bearers as a special guard of honor, the mayor of Eeklo accompanied by his alderman, and a distinguished delegation on behalf of the Committee of Patriotic Associations attending the ceremony. Mr. Koen Loete, Mayor of Eeklo, and Mr. Walter Cami, Hon.SAR - secretary of the Patriotic Associations and organizer of the solemn ceremony, performed an intimate and serene tribute at the Field of Honour of Commonwealth war dead, more specifically, as close as possible to the gravestone of Sergeant Leslie Herbert Stride. During the Second World War fierce and courageous battles were fought to liberate the people of Belgium and Western Europe, battles on land, at sea and in the air, said the two prominent speakers. For a second time within the same century, voluntary soldiers left their loved ones at home in England without knowing their goodbye would be a final farewell. They were deployed to free us from the armed forces of Nazi Germany. It is thanks to those brave men and certainly also thanks to sergeant Stride, that we can live in freedom since 1944. Fifteen British soldiers are buried on our cemetery, far from their families, far from their homeland. We never forget what they have done for Eeklo, for our region and for Belgium. We have always taken care of the graves with honor and commemorated the fallen genuinely. And we shall continue to do so for always.
After the intimate ceremony, with the greatest respect and in serenity, Enid Scillitoe was given the necessary time to say goodbye to her so beloved brother. A goodbye which both had to wait for seventy-four years. Subsequently the mayor of Eeklo invited the British guests to City Hall, this along with all those who had participated in the ceremony honoring Sergeant Leslie Herbert Stride. During the reception at the Cabinet of the Mayor, everyone present was able to talk to each other in all serenity. Friendships were forged between Gloucester and Eeklo, friendship which as I dare to hope reaches further than the word itself suggests. Closing remarks by the British guests Terry Davies, from Highnam said : As an ex RAF serviceman I was very interested in the story of her brother and I soon realised that she did really want to see his grave. The ceremony was quite moving and it was amazing what they did for her. Belgian authorities rolled the red carpet out for Mrs Scillitoe, with standard bearers, Eeklo s mayor and representatives of the Patriotic Associations attending the ceremony. She was very touched. It was also revealed at the ceremony that the pilot of Sgt Stride s plane was the uncle of actress Joanna Lumley. Mrs. Enid Scillitoe : It's very strange, it has never given me peace for seventy-four years, but now I feel better, much better. I can not thank enough the people of Eeklo because all these years later they still commemorate the brave sacrifice of my brother. We re very grateful for what these men did for him. I had a feeling that my poor brother had been killed and no-one had said goodbye. But he s been so well looked after. I will always remember how devastated my mother was when we found that my brother had died. He was only 19. My father didn t show how upset he was. She added : My brother was mad on the air force and signed up as he left school. Visiting him was something I ve always wanted to do, and I was treated like a princess when I was in Eeklo. on the following pages you can find some pictures of the ceremony as well as the speech for this occasion.
Speech on behalf of all the Patriotic Associations of Eeklo, by Walter Cami, Hon.SAR Dear Mrs. Scillitoe, Air Commodore Davies, Madam, Mr. Mayor, distinguished guests, dear friends, Walter Cami, Hon.SAR More than 74 years ago, sometime during those early days of the Second World War, Leslie Stride and his sister Enid said quite common goodbye to each other a goodbye however which completely unexpected, turned out to be irreversible and forever. Sergeant Leslie Herbert Stride was only nineteen when he and many young men were part of the Royal Air Force. One by one men from the British Empire who went to the extreme, to liberate the people of Belgium and Western Europe from the murderous and extraordinarily brutal war of Nazi Germany. The Second World War battles in the sky were often extremely dangerous but above all deadly for numerous British airmen. About one such mission with a fatal outcome you will learn more in a few moments of a very close friend of mine, who s specialized on everything what is related to the aerial battles in our broader region. Sergeant Leslie Herbert Stride is one of the fifteen Commonwealth burials of the Second World War who has his final resting place on the Eeklo Urban Cemetery, his gravestone is situated less than a few meters from where we are now.
Each year on the first of November we celebrate the feast of All Saints and we remember all our dear departed ones. As a tangible gesture of remembrance and eternal gratitude, the city authorities, for and on behalf of the population, order beautiful and meaningful white flowers to be placed to each of these fifteen Commonwealth graves. To express our most sincere feelings of greatest respect and honorable gratitude, as a citizen as well as Secretary of the Committee of Patriotic Associations, I am very pleased and immensely grateful to see that the various Patriotic Associations of Eeklo are present here today with their national colors on which their emblems can be seen. It is a sign of our most sincere sympathy for the loss of your brother, Enid but it s also a tribute to Leslie and his fourteen brothers in arms who are buried here in Eeklo, so far away from home. With absolute certainty I can tell you that we and the population of Eeklo Will Never Forget Their Sacrifice. Since our liberation in 1944, we can live in freedom under the most favorable democratic circumstances and this in spite of the extremely heavy sacrifices brought by the men who have liberated us of the Nazidictatorship Belonging to the postwar generation, I am convinced that the lessons which must be drawn from the past are like a red thread in the obligation we have to pass this commemoration to our children, to the future generations, in a message of peace, a message that we should cherish until the end of days.... NOTE : Chief Warrant Officer Frank Raeman then gives lecture on both the mission as well as the circumstances of the fatal outcome. Given that his speech is part of the book he will release for sale in the coming years, nothing can be quoted nor pictures can be used because of copyright reasons. AN IMPRESSION OF THE CEREMONY YOU CAN FIND ON THE FOLLOWING PAGES
Erwin Mynsberghe Mayor Koen Loete welcomes Mrs. Enid Scillitoe on the urban cemetery, with on their side a befriended witness of Gloucester and one from Eeklo. Erwin Mynsberghe
Erwin Mynsberghe The official and affectionate welcome by Mr Koen Loete, mayor of Eeklo, followed by the speech from the secretary of the Committee of Patriotic Associations, Mr. Walter Cami, organizer of the ceremony. Erwin Mynsberghe
Walter Cami, Hon.SAR
Erwin Mynsberghe Mrs. Enid Scillitoe at the grave of her beloved brother, Sgt Leslie Herbert Stride ; assisted by Mrs. Maggie Davies (UK) and Mr. Walter Cami (BE). A word of sincere thanks to the Mayor of Eeklo and to all who have participated. Only a few days before this unexpected and very touching event would occur, I had the privilege to be contacted by Mr. Koen Loete, Mayor of Eeklo. The request of our Mayor was serious and very sincere : a lady from England would for the first time in her life bring an intimate and serene visit to her brother s war grave who s plane crashed in Waarschoot and who is buried in our cemetery since the summer of 1940. About such an exceptional request I really didn t have to think twice. The serene nature of the intimate goodbye would definitely be respected. The British lady and the accompanying befriended couple would be welcomed honorably by the distinguished host of our city, Mr. Koen Loete, Mayor of Eeklo. In all humility, I am very grateful to our Mayor to have got his confidence so I was able to organize this unique ceremony. Thanks to the offered opportunity, an unforgettable day was accomplished for all attendees, but in particular to Mrs Enid Scillitoe in memory of her beloved brother, a fallen British Airman : Sergeant Leslie Herbert Stride Walter Cami Honorary Member of the South Alberta Regiment Secretary of the Committee of Patriotic Associations Eeklo, Belgium Secretary and co-founder of the Fund George E. Spittael, MSM
Walter Cami, Hon.SAR Memorial in Ursel, near Eeklo, at the original location commemorating the former WWII military airfield B67. The inauguration took place on Friday 27 June 2014.