Halifax JD259 Memorial, Mechelen-Leest

Could you help us fill in the inscription?

JD259 was one of 557 aircraft detailed against Mülheim on the night of 21/22 June 1943, part of the Battle of the Ruhr. The aircraft departed Lissett and bombed the target. On the return, Oblt Wilhelm Telge of Stab II./NJG 1 intercepted it over Belgium for his seventh confirmed kill at 02:30.

The pilot — F/Sgt Leonard Cavanagh, a 20-year-old Australian — made what the 158 Squadron Association describes as a very brave attempt to crash-land the bomber. Just before touchdown the aircraft struck high-tension cables and exploded, scattering wreckage across fields near the railway at Leest. All seven men died. P/O Maund was buried initially where he fell; the other six were taken to Schoonselhof Cemetery in Antwerp. After the war Maund was reinterred alongside his crewmates.

F/Sgt Cavanagh, from Western Australia, is the named focus of the 158 Squadron Association's memorial page — a common pattern in which one crew member, often through family connection or nationality, becomes the focal point for commemoration while the memorial itself honours the whole crew.

158 Squadron Association maintains a memorial page for the crew at https://www.158squadron.co.uk/memorials/cavanagh. The local Belgian community at Leest/Mechelen maintains the crash-site memorial, though the erecting organisation is unknown per the 158 Squadron Association.

Do you know of any commemorative events or annual services held at this memorial? We would love to hear from local communities who remember.