Avro Lancaster JB181 Memorial, Westervelde/Norg

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Sgt Eric Alfred Brinton was 17 years old when he died over the Netherlands on the night of 9 October 1943. He had lied about his age when enlisting, claiming to have been born in 1924; his actual date of birth was 8 April 1926. He is among the youngest operational fatalities recorded in RAF Bomber Command.

Brinton flew as Mid-Upper Gunner aboard Lancaster Mk III JB181 MG-V of 7 Squadron (Pathfinders), which departed RAF Oakington at 22:59 on 8 October 1943, bound for Hanover. This was the crew's first operational mission with 7 Squadron and their first Lancaster sortie — new to the aircraft, new to Pathfinders, and flying into one of the most costly nights Bomber Command would endure in the entire Hanover campaign. That night, 30 aircraft were lost.

At 00:28, JB181 was intercepted over the Netherlands by Oberfeldwebel Heinz Vinke of 11./NJG1, based at Leeuwarden. Vinke misidentified the aircraft as a Halifax — a detail preserved in the German combat reports — but the result was the same. All seven crew were killed.

Four of the crew — Macpherson, Brine, Spencer, and Christianson — are buried at Norg General Cemetery. The other three — Burnam-Richards, Smallridge, and Brinton — have no known grave and are commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial.

Brinton's presence in a front-line Pathfinder crew at 17 is a stark measure of the demands placed on Bomber Command in the autumn of 1943. He was younger than most of those who would sit their School Certificate today. The SLOD 'Lost Wings' panel at the crash site near Westervelde is one of 91 such markers SLOD has installed across Drenthe — a sustained act of local remembrance for the young men who fell into this quiet province.

SLOD Drenthe (Stichting Luchtoorlog en Oorlogsgraven Drenthe) installed and maintains the Lost Wings information panel at the crash site — one of 91 such panels the foundation has placed across the province of Drenthe.

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