Friday, November 17, 2006

Elegy In A Country Churchyard

Tombstone For An RAF Fighter Pilot


Photo published with the permission of Jacques Bréhin, president, ASAVN


This photograph was emailed to me last week - and it is an integral link to unravelling a mystery that has taken 62 years to solve.
The picture is taken in a church cemetery in La Lande St Léger, a tiny town of about 220 people, located in Normandy. On the right of the picture is Jacques Bréhin, president of the Association pour le Souvenir des Ailes de la Victoire de Normandie (ASAVN). On the left is Claude Roussel, who witnessed a sight on 25 August 1944 that he will never forget.
The gravestone between the two Frenchmen is unique in two respects. First, it is the only one in the cemetery that is administered by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Second, it has not one, not two but three languages on it - Hindi, English and French.
Buried here is an RAF Typhoon pilot whose last moments were wtinessed by Mr Roussel, who was just 13 years old at the time. It has taken more than six decades, but Mr Roussel learnt this week that a sibling of the pilot is still alive, albeit 94 years old.
It is an amazing story, testament to the power - and the reach - of the internet. It all started with emails from Bertrand Goucovitch, the meticulous and supremely helpful secretary of the ASAVN, and Jagan Pillarisetti, webmaster of Bharatrakshak.com/IAF.
Against all odds, in a couple of days, a retired air force officer had tracked down the Typhoon pilot's closest relative.

Watch this space for more details to come on this amazing story.

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