Yesterday I attended a genuinely touching occasion in the township of Jaszszentandras, to the North of the Hungarian Plain, together with my colleague Zsolt and our new Military Adviser Adam. There we participated in the unveiling of a memorial to several British and a South African airmen outside the local school.

65 years ago today, on 22 August 1944, a British Wellington bomber based in Italy crashed onto the town. Its mission had been to attack logistical targets in the region, including in Hungary. The crew - the South African pilot Lieutenant V W Westlake and British companions Lieutenant E R White and Sergeants-Major W E Guy, F Smith and R Brown - were all killed. For a while their bodies rested in the town cemetery but today they lie with many others in the Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery at Solymar, near Budapest. The history of this event was recently researched by Local Councillor David Aron.

To their huge credit, Jaszszentandras decided as an act of remembrance to organise a ceremony and put up the memorial. Although Hungary and the Commonwealth countries were enemies at the time, we are now allies and friends and the town was keen to make this act of conciliation. The ceremony itself was immensely dignified, with the Mayor and many local dignitaries playing a role. The Defence Minister, who is also a local politician, attended and gave a moving address - as did General Hollo, Director of the Military Museum in Budapest. A common theme was that we must work together to prevent any recurrence of those horrific events of the mid-20th Century.

Among other things, I recalled the compassionate and healing words of Mustapha Kemal Ataturk at Gallipoli, site of a famous First World War battle, in 1934. On that occasion, he said that those former enemies who now rested in peace on Turkish soil had become the sons of Turkey too. In the same way, the Jaszszentandras aircrew are now sons of Hungary.

I hope those visiting Jaszszentandras in future will take notice of this memorial (which is situated opposite the town's popular strand) and recall the friendly impulse that led to its creation. We are currently trying to locate descendents of the airmen whose lives are commemorated, so we can tell them about the memorial. So if any of you reading this think you may have relevant information about their whereabouts, please get in touch with the Embassy.

Greg Dorey
British Ambassador to Budapest
22 August 2009