171 Fred Morris’s brother, for a day of remembrance. We began at Schoonselhof Cemetery with a service at the site of the graves of the Halifax crew. Then, we travelled to Haasdonk for an unveiling of a Memorial Plaque for the crew near the field where the Halifax crashed. The bronze plaque includes a photo of the crew posing before the tail of their Halifax, taken by my uncle Charles, and a description of their mission. Haasdonk mayor Marc Van De Vijver and local citizens attended the ceremony. At a lunch at the town hall following the ceremony, Bob Morris and I were presented with neckties with the Haasdonk emblem and wooden plaques with attached metal fragments recovered from the Halifax: The day following the ceremony at Haasdonk, Stephan Delannoit of the BAHAArcheological Team took me to a swampy grove near Geraardsbergen where he and his colleagues had recently recovered an American bomber along with remains of the crew. The bombers often crashed with such force that they buried themselves meters underground. Metal detectors are used to locate them. Stephan told me that many suspected crash sites remain to be examined, keeping the Archeological Team busy. At the end of my visit, Stephan presented me with a limited-edition print of a painting made of another Halifax bomber, LW 682, recovered in 1997 by the BAHAAT. The painting recreates the moment when the Halifax was attacked by a Messerschmitt 110 on the night of 12 May 1944. The bomber crashed in Schendelbeke near Geraardsbergen. A similar painting was made in Site of the Memorial Plaque in Haasdonk. Bob Morris and his grandson by the graves of the Hal crew. Bob Morris, Haasdonk Mayor Marc Van De Vijver and his wife by the Memorial Plaque.
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