82nd anniversary of the loss of Lancaster ME685 Toulouse France

High school students from Lycee Françoise in Tournefeuille honoured the memory of seven British and Australian airmen whose aircraft had been shot down by the Germans in 1944 over Toulouse. The ceremony was held in the presence of the crew members’ families, Squadron Leader Kirsty Goldie RAAF and Squadron Leader Chris Bicknell and Sgt Callum McMenemie of 207 Squadron RAF.

When the Welsh, English, and Australian anthems rang out in the small, sunlit Lafourguette cemetery, emotion mingled with pride on that Friday afternoon. Eighty-two years after the loss of seven members of the Royal Air Force and Royal Australian Air Force stationed at 207 Squadron RAF Spilsby, whose aircraft was shot down by the Germans over the Montaudran district, Toulouse remembered. Thanks to the involvement of young high school students, supported by the National Office for Veterans and Victims of War (ONACVG) in work of remembrance and grave maintenance, this year’s tribute took on a more personal dimension.

Since September, these high school students from different academic tracks, brought together in a defence class, have been carrying out the project “In the Footsteps of the Lancaster Crew.” The programme combined learning about the history of the Second World War in Toulouse, the French resistance and the crew of the only Lancaster lost on ops on 6th April 1944 through working with archives, reflecting on memory, and zoom exchanges in English with family members.

The ceremony held this Friday, attended by several French and foreign officials, veterans’ associations, and family descendants of the crew, marked the culmination of their work.

In front of the graves of the seven crew members, which they had carefully cleaned, the students concluded their tribute, aware of the price that other young people had paid in the name of freedom. “They were almost the same age as us. Without them, we might not be here,” said Adrien Alcouffe. In their research, Mathilde De Oliveira and Athénaëlle Forestier were moved by the letters that 21-year-old Arthur Woolley sent to his mother.

“We hope the families are satisfied with this tribute. We were very moved to speak with them. Thanks to these young men who died for a country other than their own, I am here today and I can go to school, live, and be free,” emphasized Emma Eveillard-Cros, who worked on the life of Arthur Woolley, who was due to marry his fiancée just two days after the plane crash.

“In this project, the students gained more than just a history lesson—they were deeply moved, and it will stay with them,” concluded Amin Lahdil, their teacher and defense education coordinator for the Académie de Toulouse.

Read about the 80th Anniversary of the Lancaster E685 crew here