BELGIUM: A second World War Spitfire pilot was buried yesterday, exactly 60 years after he was shot down by German fighter aircraft above Belgian marshland. The remains of Sgt Carmichael, from Dundee, were found in a field near Ghent last year.
Two surviving relatives of the airman, who was known to his family as Ian, were at a funeral with full military honours at a military cemetery in Flanders.
Cousin Mary McQuade (82), who attended the funeral with sister-in-law, Winifred, said she was delighted by the dignity of the ceremony. She said: "It was such a beautiful service this morning. "Everyone felt that he was with us and was watching us and it is so good that at last he's got a final resting place," said Mrs McQuade, from Kilmarnock, Ayrshire.
Members of the RAF's Queen's Colour Squadron, bore the airman's coffin at Coxyd Military Cemetery, near Ypres. Seven riflemen fired a traditional volley of shots at the end of the ceremony, led by RAF Catholic padre Father John Walsh, and two Hawk jets made a fly-past over the cemetery. An RAF spokesman said: "The two family members were approached by an elderly Belgian gentleman who had been imprisoned during the Nazi occupation. "He thanked them for the freedom that the country had because of their relative's sacrifice." The ceremony was also attended by two Belgian women whose family owned the field in which Sgt Carmichael's plane crashed.
The pilot was only 20 when he was shot down over Flanders in 1943 after returning from a mission accompanying US bombers.
Mrs McQuade said items found with Sgt Carmichael, including a post office book, rosary beads and religious medals, and a receipt for a diamond engagement ring, would be given to the archaeology team that recovered his body. - (PA)