A Memorial Service is Coming Together on November 25th, 2022

On November 25th, 2022, a great effort will come together to mark the 80th anniversary of the loss of Royal Air Force Lancaster R5695EM-C over the North Sea, NWN off the Bergen an Zee, Netherlands.  The eight man crew was returning from a bombing mission over Haselunne, Germany on November 25th, 1942 and were "lost without a trace".  However, the love of family members, mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, most gone now too, kept the flame of memory aglow.  We will be honoring them at the airfield they last departed - Langar Airfield in Nottingham, UK.

Alfred Joseph Parkyn, pilot.
Palisades, New Jersey, USA

James McGregor Allan
 Mimico, Ontario, Canada

Eugene Edward Chouiniere, Gunner
Waterford/Cohoes, NY, USA

John James Gallimore
Denton, Manchester, Lancashire, UK

James Louis Guichard
Dearborn, Michigan, USA

Jack Slater

Hyde, Cheshire, UK

William James Vandervoort, navigator
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Windsor Francis Richard Webb
Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, UK

Here are links to earlier blog posts about Lancaster R5695EM-C

• my first story, "Lost Without a Trace" posted in April 2011, was about Eugene Chouiniere
• Update: 5 October 2021
  
• Eugene Chouiniere: in Memoriam

Update on 'Lost Without A Trace' The crew of Avro Lancaster R5695EM-C on the night of November 25th, 1942

In 2010 I met Lea Langlais of Cohoes, NY who lovingly told me about her uncle and childhood playmate, Eugene Edward Chouiniere, who died while serving in the Royal Canadian Air Force during WW2.  Afterwards, I wrote about him and Lea's steadfast devotion to keeping his memory alive.   Lea died in 2012 but the memory of young Chouiniere and the other crew members of the Avro Lancaster R5695EM-C lives on.  Lea had photographs of five crew members which lead me to believe the aircraft had a crew of five.  I will never know why Lea had photos of the 3 Americans and 2 Canadians crew members but not the 3 English crew.  However, in the past year thanks to a dedicated group of people in England known as the "The Field Detectives" from the Goadby Marwood History Group, I have come to understand more about the aircraft and airmen of R5695EM-C.  The eight airmen were:

An effort is underway to find as many family members of the crew across North America and the UK as possible.  If you are a family member or a friend reading this post, please contact FrancoAmericanGravy@gmail.com or check our Facebook group, Families of Avro Lancaster R5695EM-C, and request to join the group.  A nephew of Alfred Parkyn, the pilot of R5695EM-C, and the team of 'The Field Detectives' are working tirelessly to organize a memorial service to mark the 80th anniversary of this tragic event.  It is an honor to bring families together to remember these men and the sacrifice they made during WW2.  In the following posts and coming weeks, I hope to share a little bit about each crew member with you, dear reader.  Meanwhile, family member and retired Unites States Marine Corp pilot, Michael Parkyn, is writing a history of the crew and aircraft that he hopes will be available in the anniversary year. 

James McGregor Allen,          1918-1942, 24 years old, Canada

Eugene Edward Chouiniere,   1923-1942, 19 years old, USA

John James Gallimore,            1916-1942, 26 years old, England

James Louis Guichard,            1904-1942, 38 years old, USA

Alfred Joseph Parkyn,             1915-1942, 27 years old, USA

Jack Slater,                              1921-1942, 21 years old, England

William John Vandervoort,     1916-1942, 26 years old, Canada

Windsor Francis R. Webb,      1924-1942, 18 years old, England

As I establish contact with the families of these men, it has greatly moved me to learn how parents and siblings struggled throughout their entire lives never knowing where their son, their brother and, for the wife of John James Gallimore, her husband, met death.  Their consolation was the knowledge these men gave their lives protecting England, the people living in England and in the parts of Europe overpowered by the Nazi war machine.  The crew of R5695EM-C, along with thousands of other airmen and women never recovered, are memorialized at The Air Forces Memorial Runnymede, in Surrey, England and in the Airmen Memorial Database here.