BoB weekend I was in France in and around the Somme (same weekend last year it was Flanders) with a group of friends.
We did come across some WW2 graves in Villers-Bretonneux Military Cemetery, Fouilloy, Somme, where Australian WW1 Memorial is. It was a still, peaceful and sunny Sunday morning........
MEDWIN, Squadron Leader Ian George and Fg Off A J Coe, RNZAF.
AJ Coe did take part in the raid on Copenhagen.
Coe had been injured previously in an accident, and had been treated at Doncaster Infirmary and (later) transferred to the RAF Hospital Rauceby on 19 November, 1941. As a result of the accident he had two fingers amputated, a fractured right leg, and his ears and face burnt. He was discharged from hospital in January 1942. On 10 May 1942, he embarked for New Zealand on repatriation for ground duties. However, he embarked for the United Kingdom in October 1943, arriving in the December, and was accepted for flying duties. Commissioned and on his thirtieth sortie, he died, with his skipper S/L Ian George Medwin RNZAF, on 6 April 1945, when their 487 Squadron Mosquito FB.VI SZ990/E crashed shortly after take off from Rosieres-en-Santerre. Both officers were buried on 11 April at the Anzac Cemetery at Villers Bretonneux.