Canadian Virtual War Memorial

Photo of Arthur Francis Le Maistre – Pilot Officer Arthur Francis Le Maistre, Royal Air ForceBorn January 22,1914 - Died April 9, 1940 photo ca. September 1938

Photo of ARTHUR FRANCIS LE MAISTRE – Submitted for the project, Operation Picture Me

Newspaper clipping – In memory of the men and women memorialized on the pages of the Winnipeg Evening Tribune. Submitted for the project, Operation: Picture Me.

Newspaper Clipping – Memorialized on the pages of the Globe and Mail. Submitted for the project, Operation Picture Me

Newspaper clipping – In memory of the men and women memorialized on the pages of the Winnipeg Evening Tribune. Submitted for the project, Operation: Picture Me.

Memorial Service – Annual Community Commemoration at British Airmen's graveside in Sylling Churchyard. May 8th, 2000 (Norway's Liberation Day)

Sylling Church – The positioning and prominence given by the local community towards these ten graves of former members of the Royal Air Force reflects their continuing reverence and respect for them. The nine graves from the left - that of my brother is the second - are those of the dead aircrew of 210 Squadron's Sunderland despatched from Britain on April 9th, 1940 to reconnoitre the approaches to Oslo, Norway, to confirm that country's suspected invasion by the enemy. (The tenth grave is that of another Royal Air Force aircrew member, killed in a later operation.) Damaged by AA fire from the enemy invasion fleet in Oslo fjord while taking photos, the flying boat was subsequently intercepted by two Me110 fighters, and following a midair explosion, separated and crashed in to an isolated mountainous and forested area. (There was one seriously wounded survivor, the radio operator, who, following treatment and recuperation in a Norwegian hospital, became a POW for 5 years.) Despite the remote and winter-bound crash site, members of the community recovered, and ultimately were allowed to bury with full military honours the nine bodies in the churchyard. The Sylling community still after over three score years annually commemorates the sacrifice of the foreign airmen in their attempt to give aid when their community was attacked by a common enemy. Each year, on May 8th, the anniversary of their liberation, besides their celebration of that event, there is also an Act of Ccommemoration at the ten airmen's graves.

Memorial – Granite Monument erected by the Norwegian community at the Flying Boat's crash site near Maridalshytta, Norway. Partial translation of the inscription on the plaque: "This Stone Is Erected in Memory of the First British Airmen who gave their lives in our fight for Freedom, 1940-1945, ... " "Erected June 10th, 1990"