The family of a New Zealand airman has travelled to the Netherlands after his heroic efforts during World War II were recognised with the reopening of a tunnel bearing his name.
In 1944, 21-year-old Raymond Cammock flew his damaged fighter-bomber into the back of a Nazi train in the Dutch city of Lochem, destroying the ammunition it was carrying at the cost of his own life.
The remnants of Cammock’s actions were discovered nearly 80 years on as renovations were carried out on the tunnel.
“This is a very unique tunnel. During the renovations we found the remains of an ammunition train and from the aircraft of flying officer Raymond Cammock in this area,” ProRail’s Dorothé Wennekendonk said.
His granddaughter, Mel Cammock-Elliot, was among eight members of Cammock’s family who travelled to the Netherlands for the ceremony.
“As a family we cannot express how profound and gratifying it is that our beloved father, grandfather and great-grandfather is being remembered and honoured here today,” she said during the ceremony.
Cammock-Elliot said she and her family “didn't know about the details of the aeroplane and the train" until they were contacted by the Dutch authorities last year.
“What an incredible honour that he is not forgotten and we have these places of pilgrimage where we can come and know that he is remembered,” she said.
Wennekendonk called the unveiling of the revamped bridge “very important considering what's going on in the world right now, to take a moment for such a war hero from another war and realise what he has done”.
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