George Howard had joined the 181st Flying Squadron of the Royal Air Force just one month earlier, in May 1944, having initially enlisted in the Royal Australian Air Force in December 1941, at the age of 20.
George Howard was the uncle of Libby Mewing, an uncle she never knew. Those of you who have read earlier updates may remember that Domi and I had dinner with Libby, and her friend Margaret, a few nights ago in Saint Germaine in Paris.
Some months earlier, when Domi was in Sydney, we had dinner together one evening with our dear friends Jill and Martin, and their dear friends Libby and Rod Mewing. We were discussing Libby and Rod's upcoming trip to Europe and ours as well, including travelling in Normandie, and then to The Somme to attend the Anzac Day dawn service at Villers Bretonneux. Libby then told us the story of her uncle, George John Howard, a typhoon pilot shot down in Normandie on D-Day. He was buried, initially, beside the front door of the church in Mouen, with a simple plaque bearing his name, date of death and a kangaroo.
On hearing Libby's story, Domi told her we would be passing very near Mouen. We asked if she would be happy for us to visit there as we would certainly be nearby just before Anzac Day. And that's how today we came to be in Mouen, and later in Bayeux. I had done some research on George last night and found that he was ultimately, though perhaps not initially, laid to rest in the Commonwealth Military Cemetery in Bayeux, about 30 kms from Mouen. So here is the story and photos from today, with apologies Libby if we have made any mistakes in the details.
We understood from Libby's account to us that George, a typhoon pilot, was shot down near Mouen on D-Day. The people of Mouen recovered his body (unsure?) and parts of the wreckage, and he was honoured with a memorial directly to the left of the blue door, the main entrance to the church in Mouen.
When we arrived at the church in Mouen this morning, before entering the church grounds we saw immediately a well maintained, in fact pristine, memorial in a peaceful grassed area directly opposite the church but not inside the grounds. To the right was the plaque commemorating George Howard and bearing, as you see in the photos, a kangaroo. We had bought some forget-me-nots this morning before leaving Deauville but didn't lay them near the plaque at first as we thought that the memorial was inside the church grounds, to the left of the blue door.
We walked around the grounds of the church and checked every plague but couldn't find any reference to George John Howard. We decided that the memorial in the grassed area opposite the church grounds was in fact the one. We placed a small pot of purple forget-me-nots, and stayed for a few more moments to pay our respects.
We had already planned to drive to Bayeux to find George's final resting place but before that, on Domi's suggestion, we visited the office of the Mairie (the mayor) to see if we could find out any more about the memorial that we had thought was inside the church grounds. We quickly located the mayor's office - Mouen is a small village - and spoke to one of the ladies there. She was quite young, and not aware of the story but mentioned an old man in the village who may know more. Domi said we would like to speak to him if possible and asked if she could call him on our behalf and, sure enough, a few minutes later Domi was on the phone with him. He was not able to add too much more other than that the original site of the typhoon wreckage was very nearby the church, but a freeway stands there now. But, in any case, we knew from what Libby had told us that the important place for her and for George's family is the memorial from the people of Mouen, who had been so respectful on that June day, more than 70 years ago.
Before heading to Bayeux, we decided to have a coffee in Mouen and, as we did so, I started doing a little more research about George and the memorial in the church grounds because it seemed to us that the site opposite the church was unlikely to be the original place of the memorial. Before long some images appeared which clearly show that the memorial which now sits opposite the church grounds used to be directly to the left of the blue door - including George's plaque with the kangaroo. I've included those pictures as well.
So to Bayeux and half an hour later we arrived at the Commonwealth Military Ceremony. Domi and I both found it to be a beautiful and peaceful place, impeccably maintained. More than 4,600 soldiers are buried there, including 17 Australians, one of whom is George John Howard.
Once again, thanks to technology, and the excellent Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) website, we were soon able to find the location of George's grave - Area 16, Row C, number 9. We found that George was buried with one Australian on one side, and two on the other. There was even a slightly faded Australian flag to the right, so perhaps someone had visited his 'neighbour' not too long ago. We laid a pot of white forget-me-nots and stayed a while longer.
Domi had told me the other day that the French have a saying, 'Devoir de memoire' meaning there is a duty to keep the memory. I guess it's the same as our 'Lest we forget'.
Visiting George John Howard has been a special experience for The French and I. And in my brief research last night I stumbled across something else I had been unaware of. Every day of the year but one, at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra, there is a Last Post Ceremony commemorating one of the 102,000 men and women who have lost their lives to the tragedy of war. The first was held on 17 April 2013. The Last Post Ceremony for George John Howard was held on 13 December 2014.
Devoir de Memoire.
Jenny and Domi xx
Original site photo 1
Original site photo 2
Area 16, Row C.
