Family found of Arthur Sidney Jones
After years of searching, we have finally succeeded! We found relatives of the only British crew member Arthur Sidney Jones. He is one of the five perished crew members of Wellington HE 154, which crashed near Diemen on 12 June 1943.
Of the Australian crew members, we have already found relatives in recent years.
A few weeks ago, we received details of relatives through a contact in the UK. We got in touch via Facebook and Email and received the attached picture, among others.
In finding relatives of this ‘Sid’, we have found relatives of all five heroes.
Family members of this ‘Sid’ will also be present during the unveiling of the memorial plaque on 12 June 2023 at 2pm at Fort Diemerdam.
Monument is unveiled
The Unveiling of the monument HE 154 is on June 12, 2023 at 2 p.m. at Fort Diemerdam. In addition to mayor Erik Boog van Diemen, a delegation from the Australian embassy is present, as well as a family member of the deceased pilot Fletcher Green. She comes to the Netherlands especially from Australia.
Also the men who dug out the aircraft’s engine in 1985 will be present. The ceremony will be graced by the Diemer Harmonie and the band of the Seaforth Highlanders Of Holland.
Unfortunately, we had to decide that the engine of the aircraft cannot be housed in the bunker of Fort Diemerdam. The engine will also not be part of the monument to be placed. New plans are currently being made for showing the engine.
Arthur Sidney Jones
In recent months there have been developments in finding relatives of the English crew member Arthur Sidney Jones. . To date, little or no information has been available on him. It seems that a family link has been found through contacts in England and the USA. We hope we can get in touch soon.
Flowers for fallen pilots
On Friday 12 June, the Historical Circle Diemen laid flowers at the graves of the fallen airmen at the Ooster Cemetery. It is 77 years since the plane was shot down and the crew perished.
Location monument is official!
After the Diemen municipality did not support our plan for a monument near the town hall, we looked at several other locations in Diemen Centrum. Unfortunately, none of these spots met our needs. After much deliberation, we became convinced that the monument should be as close as possible to the crash site.
It is now almost certain that the monument will be housed in one of the bunkers of Coastal Battery Diemerdam ( Diemer Fort) Owner Stadsherstel has agreed to this plan.
Visit Australian Ambassade
On 29 March 2019, the project team visited the Ambassador of Australia; Mr Matthew E.K. Neuhaus.
The ambassador was very impressed by our action to honour the perished crew through a memorial. He will also make efforts to find relatives of 2 fallen crew members in Australia.
Photo: Embassy Australia
From left to right:
Josje Kronenberg, Diemen 1940-1945 Committee; Australian Ambassador Matthew E.K. Neuhaus; Ad Saan, chairman of Historische Kring Diemen; Frits Reurekas, eyewitness and initiator of the salvage of the engine in 1985; Wiard Krook, Historische Kring Diemen, compiler of history Wellington HE154
