Ivan Douglas with a photo of his beloved brother, Adrian Douglas. Photo / Stephen Parker
Ivan Douglas with a photo of his beloved brother, Adrian Douglas. Photo / Stephen Parker
Ivan Douglas can't remember his brother Adrian; he was not even 2 when his three elder brothers went eagerly to war.
But, after years of yearning to know more, he has finally been granted his wish.
Yesterday, the last brother of 13 siblings, was informed of the final moments ofWarrant Officer Adrian Vincent Douglas' life.
Now Ivan hopes to fly to Germany to witness the unveilling of a memorial at the newly-discovered crash site for Adrian and the six other crew members who died with him.
Adrian Douglas was the radio operator and gunman on the aircraft. Photo / Supplied
Ivan did not know his brother Adrian or Wallace, who also died in the war, but through tales told, feels like he has known them all his life.
"Even though I was only a little fella when they went away, you weren't allowed to forget them."
"Over the years, your brothers are with you. You got to know what they were like."
Adrian's grave in Durnbach War Cemetery, Germany. Photo / Supplied
The Douglas men were three of about 30 people in the extended family who went overseas to fight. Six, including Adrian and Wallace, were killed.
Ivan remembers when his parents recieved the telegram that had the fateful news.
"I was only about 5, but boy I knew what it was all about."
"I think it killed my mother in the finish. She was only 56 when she died, but I always said she died of a broken heart."
But music held the family together, a gift that both Adrian and Wallace also had.
"They must've been good brothers. When they were going to school I remember Mum and Dad saying... they always knew when they were coming home, because you could hear them singing and whistling on their way."
Crash site researcher Erik Wieman reached out to the Rotorua Daily Post this week in hopes of finding the descendants of Adrian, who he only knew was Māori and had resided on Clayton Rd in Rotorua.
Wieman said an excavation was planned with Archaeological Services and a memorial would then be built for those who lost their lives at the site.
Evidence suggests that at 7.36pm on September 5, 1943, the Stirling Bomber EE872 launched from Lakenheath in the United Kingdom on a mission to bomb the cities of Ludwigshafen and Mannheim in Germany.
Researchers believe the aircraft with three New Zealanders on board was hit about 1.15am by aircraft defense cannons on a night fighter.
The only survivor of the crash was Harry Barnard, known to the rest of the crew as 'Barney'.
The Stirling bomber (Code EE872). Photo / Supplied
Some researchers believe that Barnard only lived because Adrian ran to the back of the plane and told him to bale out with his parachute.
Ivan and his family were moved to tears when they heard this news. He only hoped his other siblings had had the chance to hear it too.
