Remembrance 2023

Sud-Ouest Branch Members Support Armistice 2023

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Photos by C. Soullie, one at Berneuil, and three at the Berneuil German Military Cemetery

The following photos are by the l’armée de l’air et de l’espace photographer Lauriane VERT, three taken at the Bomber Command Memorial and the rest at YAM (Yorkshire Air Museum).

On 12 November 2023, the first part of the day of commemorations took place in the village of Elvington. Following the laying of a wreath in front of a commemorative plaque and a long procession through the village, a ceremony was held in front of the Franco-British war memorial. The village, along with various associations and families of veterans of the heavy groups, celebrated ‘Remembrance Sunday’. Heavy Groups is the name given to the foreign squadrons, particularly French, that were stationed at Elvington air base in the north of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. These squadrons were respectively the 2/23 “Guyenne” and 1/25 “Tunisie” bomber groups operating the Halifax. The squadrons are all still active in the 01.004 “Gascogne” fighter squadron with the BR 66 “Egyptian Falcon”, the 03.004 “Aquitaine” Rafale transformation squadron with the 4B3 “Hibou”, the 1/25 (2) “Bison” at Saint-Dizier, and the 01.031 “Bretagne” in-flight refuelling and strategic transport squadron with the BR 129 “Lapin trimardeur” at Istres air base 125.

… and a composite from Naphill: