Commonwealth War Graves Oudenaarde

At the Communal Cemetery in Oudenaarde are 25 Commonwealth war graves. There are 18 graves from the Second World War, of which one has not been identified. The remaining seven graves are from the First World War.

The Commonwealth of Nations also contains the grave of an Australian infantryman who died in the First World War: "J.E. SHARMAN - May 13, 1918 ".

In addition, there is also the crew of the Halifax that fell in Bevere on May 2, 1944.
The aviators are next to each other, on the 2nd row, in front of the hedge.

In 1943 a scenario was drawn up by the Allied command whereby all the supply routes between Germany and the German forces in the field would have to be cut off in order to successfully carry out the landing on the French coasts.
Part of the plan was to shut down the main railroad junctions to the invasion front.
On May 1, 1944, the "target" is Saint-Ghislain, where the junction of the line Bergen-Valenciennes and Bergen-Doornik is situated. A first bombardment by twin-engined aircraft of the United States Air Force had already taken place in the morning.
In the evening, the RAF prepares to attack the target a second time.
137 aircraft (89 Halifaxes, 40 Lancasters and 8 Mosquitos) from the 6th & 8th group are participating. 14 bombers of the 429th "Bison" Squadron of the Royal Canadian Air Force, which is stationed at Leeming airfield in Yorkshire (GB), are present. One of them is the Handley Page "Halifax" III LW 415 - "AL-K for King" which takes off at 10:12 PM.

The crew consists of:
Royal Air Force: George Algernon ELLIOTT
Royal Canadian Air Force: Stuart Mackenzie LESLIE - Robert James WEBSTER
John Elie Frederick HAWKE - Garnet Edward McCANN - George Graham VIPOND
Earl Freiman BALDRY

Shortly after 11:15 pm the assignment will be executed. The bombs fall continuously on Saint-Ghislain for 40 minutes. It will be a successful attack; the traffic axis has been neutralized for the time being, but the surroundings of the market and part of the church are also severely affected.
The RAF only loses 2 aircraft: an Avro "Lancaster" MK X (KB 711) and our Halifax AL-K for King.

Due to a defect in the compass, the latter had suffered a delay during the outward journey with the result that he came above the target ± 18 minutes after the main force.
The aircraft was therefore isolated on its return and therefore easy prey for night fighters. In the vicinity of Oudenaarde he was indeed hit by the bullets of a German Messerschmitt BF 110 night fighter from the Sint-Truiden base, manned by pilot Oblt Georg Hermann GREINER, commander of 11./1 NJG.

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Source

• Text: TracesOfWar + Marie-Christine Vinck
• Photos: Luc van Waeyenberge (1, 2, 3), Marie-Christine Vinck (4, 5)