Hello from Holland, Amsterdam to be exact!
This has been a amazing trip so far. I only have a few minutes so i'll give you the short story.
We left Vancouver at 12pm Sat, 5 min before boarding we were called to the front desk. Turns out KLM (Dutch Airline) found out about our trip to recover the crew of LV905 and moved us upto Business class. Well let me tell you, They sure take good care of you when your in the big seats :-)
Champaine, personel movie player, Order from a breakfast menu, Lamb for dinner........Sorry I was kinda used to being crammed into small seats on flights and eating a day old bun with cheese.
Ok, we land in Holland @7am, We get our rental car and drive 1hr to the town of Hank (Honk) where the crash site is.
We are welcomed by Phillip Dewitt who has spearheaded this undertaking himself (now with the help of many others) The crash site has a sign board with a pic of the plane and a story of what happened. Above fly a Canadian flag a British and a Dutch flag.
As we chat and meet some of the press we hear the sound of bag pipes (For those who know me well will know that my Mother was Scotish and her Grandfather was in the Blackwatch as a drummer on the front lines in WW1) Also the bagpipes were my moms favorite and with her funeral still in my mind (Bagpipes were played there as well) The sound of \"Pipes\" get closer. Turns out by chance there was Dutch Highland (sp) games going on only a short distance away. They heard about the recovery and wanted to play a tribute to the crew.
We watched as they marched while playing from 1/2 klm away, closer and closer until they marched right past the site then stoped at the sign. Here they made a circle while a few speaches were read, The names of the crew were read allowed and the 100 plus people watching were told of the freedom they gained by people like the crew of LV905. A moment of silence passed and then they began to play and march back. It was a very emotional moment.
The next day (Tues) We went to the War cemetary in Nijmegan aprox 1.5 hrs from Amsterdam. At this location there are just over 1000 Canadian soldiers and air crew burried. We laid flowers in front of the headstone that has the crews names on it. Only two of the 7 crew are burried there.
From there we went to Hank to take part in the first digging of the soil. When we arrived we were overwhelmed by TV crews, Newspaper, and other news media. There were 100+ people waiting to see what would happen. The Mayer of Hank spoke as did a few other people then the Digger started! They are only going to remove a foot or so just to let the press see. While this is going my Dad did many interviews as my Brother and I did our best talking to reporters and the public.
After a short while the first part of the plane was found, aprox 10inches X 10inches. It was amazing to see a part of history that has been burried for some 61 years.
It was 30+ out and we needed to go for some drinks, We went to Phillips house where he showed up some fragments of the plane. One of which I was given. Then more reporters tracked us down, These ones from England. Phillips wife called us into the TV room.... the news was on and there was my Dad talking while the digger worked in the background. Wow! It had only been a 2hrs or so since the first interview.
Ok I gotta run....I left out a bunch and I have a ton of photos to show...more updates soon.
