An extraordinary act of compassion which took place in the heat of war sixty four years ago was once again remembered at Elvington on Sunday 1st June, when the Doncaster Air Gunners Association brought a party of German WWII veterans to the museum.This annual re-union, which alternates each year between here and Germany, has now existed for 20 years and stems from an act of human kindness following the shooting down of an RAF Lancaster in 1944.
On return from a raid on Berlin, Lancaster “Sugar 2” from RAF Wickenby, was hit by fire from a Messerschmidt 110. On fire and spiralling earthward, the crew baled out of the stricken aircraft. Navigator Arthur Lee however, was pinned to the floor by the centrifugal force of the spin, until, suddenly, the aircraft blew apart and he was forcibly ejected. Luckily, he had put on his parachute harness and was able to pull the cord, with the chute just opening in time to break his fall into the trees below, in a wood near Katzelenbogen, 20 miles south east of Koblenz.
But for Rudi’s intervention, things could have been very different for Arthur and Rudi himself had risked the possibility of a court martial. After the war had ended, Rudi erected a 10ft high wooden cross at the crash site, flanked by six smaller crosses to mark the rest of the Lancaster crew who had perished in the crash. Forty five years later, Rudi and Arthur were reunited at the cross, when a pilgrimage of RAF Wickenby members and Doncaster Air Gunners Association made the trip to the crash site, after researching the details with assistance from the current Luftwaffe and the German Nightfigters Association, which meet at Sobernheim airbase. Thus, German veterans and current servicemen at the time took part in a service of remembrance at this reunion.
This set the spark of a friendship between Doncaster Air Gunners and the Nightfighters Association that has remained strong to this day. The Air Gunners association identified the site of the last crash of a German aircraft on British soil, at Dunnington Lodge, near Elvington, as the most appropriate for a twin memorial to “The Cross in the Woods” erected by Rudi Balzer in Germany and , for twenty years, the reciprocal visits have taken place.
Last Sunday, Yorkshire Air Museum Chaplain Neil Mackay led a short Service of Remembrance at Dunnington Lodge before the Doncaster Air Gunners and the visiting German veterans and family proceeded to the museum for a luncheon and a special tour of the museum’s unique restored Halifax bomber.
Museum spokesman, Ian Richardson, said: “We were delighted to assist our friends at the Doncaster Air Gunners Association in making this a very special occasion for the German veterans and their families. The long lasting friendship that has existed since that remarkable act of kindness shows us that conflicts are about politics, not people in general, and that old opponents can respect each others courage in the pursuit of their duty, thereby finding the similarities that lasting friendships can be based upon.”
Both Arthur Lee and Rudi Balzer are sadly no longer with us, but they would have been astounded at the continuing legacy their friendship has created.
Pictured with the impressive Halifax Bomber “Friday the 13th” are: (left to right).
Stan Wannell – Doncaster Air Gunners Association. (Former Wireless Operator / Air Gunner on Wellingtons.)
Theo Nau – German Me. 109 fighter pilot.
Eric Foynette – RAF Lancaster Navigator an ex POW. At 92 years of age, Eric is the last remaining witness to the re-union of Rudi Balzer and Arthur Lee.)
Ulrich Majewski – Post WWII Luftwaffe pilot.
Walter Rehling – Dornier 217 pilot in WWII.
Otto Markruse – Luftwaffe Dayfighter pilot on Focke-Wulfe 190.
Herbert Gleich – Junkers JU 88 pilot.
Kneeling in front are: L to R:
Moira Hurrell, Jacqui Whitehead (Event Organiser) and Sue Collett of the Doncaster Air Gunners Association.
Further information at: www.yorkshireairmuseum.co.uk
