On Sunday, July 12th, 2015, a memorial plaque commemorating the US bomber crash of July 13th, 1944 was inaugurated at the "Buchser-Hüsi" in Bätterkinden in the presence of war veterans and their descendants, contemporary witnesses and many other interested parties. An exciting encounter with history. Sunday, July 12th, 9.30 am, at the "Bucher-Hüsi" in Bätterkinden: The sun in a cloudless sky is already providing summer temperatures. The first visitors have already arrived, marvel at the historic US Army vehicles, which are nicely lined up in rows, and read with interest the billboards set up describing the airplane crashes in the area and the B17 Museum in Utzenstorf. While Rolf Zaugg - museum owner, historian, initiator and main organiser of the commemoration – gives some final instructions and personally welcomes all the guests from abroad - war veterans and their relatives, from Europe and overseas - the members of the Pfadi Landshut are already selling their first drinks to quench visitors’ thirst. The German war veteran Max Lagoda is standing at the reception table and tells the fascinated audience anecdote after anecdote about his active years with long-distance reconnaissance aircraft, shows pictures he took of Moscow, Stalingrad, even the Caspian Sea and Tehran, during World War II.
10.30 a.m.: In the meantime, numerous visitors have arrived from Bätterkinden, the surrounding villages, but also from all over Switzerland and are now eagerly awaiting speeches for the the memorial plaque inauguration. The Trumpet Section of the "History Swingers Big Band" musically opens the official ceremony. Rolf Zaugg has carefully selected the speakers - and the contributions are correspondingly diverse, interesting and touching: Mayor Beat Linder, who contributes from a post-war-born but very historically-interested perspective; the American Shane Ellis, who as a child heard the story of the Bätterkinden crash from his grandfather again and again; the Bätterkinden contemporary witness Robert Weber, who remembers the plane crash as if it were yesterday; aviation journalist Peter Brotschi, who recounts interesting facts about WWII plane crashes; Max Lagoda, who faithfully fulfilled his duty as a soldier - but on the German side. While the History Swingers play "King March", Shane Ellis and Rober Weber unveil the new memorial plaque, which is now hung on the wooden wall of the "Bucher-Hüsis". Rolf Zaugg and Max Lagoda lay German Air Force Ring wreath in front of the plaque. Following the same flight path as the US bomber "Battlin Baby", which crashed on July 13th 1944, four historic fighter planes fly over the area; later an Antonov AN-2 makes its approach - and five parachutists jump, using the round canopy parachutes from World War II. One of them is the American Jim Logg, 72 years old, Vietnam veteran, who flew in from Seattle yesterday to make this jump - and he will return home the next day. With the landing of the parachutists’ landings, the memorial plaque inauguration’s official act is also over - and will certainly be remembered by the visitors of the celebration as an extremely impressive rendez-vous with history. afu
J+P Bericht
