Quest ends after 700 miles and 68 years

Nov 8 2008 by Dan Warburton, The Journal

A RETIRED education officer tirelessly searched for 68 years to find the grave of his war veteran cousin.

The burial site of Frank Hansen, 26, remained a mystery to his family after he was shot down in May 1940 over the small French village of Chuffilly-Roche.

But last week his cousin John Carder, 78, travelled 700 miles to visit the memorial and pay a final tribute.

Gosforth-born fighter pilot Mr Hansen was killed when his Hurricane crashed and his remains were buried in the nearby village cemetery.

The search to find his grave stalled after a mix-up over his surname, but last week Mr Carder finally ended his 68-year quest and laid a wreath at his cousin’s grave.

Father-of-four Mr Carder said: “We went to show he was not forgotten. The village has a population of 100 people. There are no shops, no cafes or buses, and no one speaks English.

“The mayor of the village, Bernard Aubry, met us at the train station and drove us the 25km to the village. They looked after us all day.

“We laid a wreath from my family and the RAF. The French do not regard poppies as memorials to the dead and they were surprised by the nature of our wreath.

“After the ceremony we met a young villager whose mother had told him about the crashed Hurricane. He took us to the site, which was 400 yards from the cemetery. They were surprised that after 68 years a family member wanted to travel all that way and visit them.”

Frank spent only 13 days enlisted in the RAF before he was killed on his second sortie.

During the Second World War it was the policy of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission to bury servicemen as near as possible to where they died.

The communal cemetery is full of marble memorials, but in the far corner stands a single military grave.

Pilot officer Frank Hansen’s grave bears the poignant inscription Hero of the Heavens.

Each year the 100 inhabitants of the village parade through the streets. A small group of veterans carry the French Tricolour and show their respect to the lone fallen hero by observing a minute’s silence at his grave.

Mr Carder, who now lives at Fife in Scotland, said: “This was his first taste of battle – he looked very young and inexperienced.

“They called him ‘The British Pilot’. That’s how they refer to him. We left a photograph of Frank with the mayor.

“On our return we received a letter from the mayor. For years they have stood by his grave and they had no idea who he was.

“But after our visit he is now a hero who has a face and a family.

“They said every time they place flowers at the grave it will have more meaning because they know who he is. My cousin has not been forgotten by the French and the British. It’s a comforting thought as we approach Remembrance Day.”

Mr Carder was evacuated from his London home in 1944, aged 13, and moved in with his aunt in Otterburn Avenue, Gosforth.

It was four years after his cousin’s death, but when he arrived he saw Frank’s photograph and his service hat and gloves on a table just inside the doorway.

Mr Carder said: “It was the picture in the hallway that made me want to find his grave. It still makes me sad now.

“Visiting the village finished the story.”