Reunion of Squadron Members Past and Present

The only surviving member of World War II’s Dutch 322 Squadron, Cyril Merle, who now lives in Sussexdown residential care home, Storrington, received a visit from two officers of the current squadron as part of the home’s ‘Dutch Day’.

Sgt Major Jan Gnodde and Sgt Haijo Luining had previously been quests at the wedding of Cyril and his wife Margaret when they married in 2009, having met at Sussexdown three years earlier, and Cyril’s daughter suggested that the officers should be invited to Dutch Day.

“We were very pleased to see Cyril and Margaret again, and honoured to be part of the Dutch Day celebrations,” said Jan Gnodde who is based at Leeuwarden.

Cyril was 22 when he became a leading aircraftsman with the RAF Dutch Spitfire Squadron and was involved in the invasion of Normandy in 1944. Margaret joined the RAF as a driver with 617 Dambusters Squadron at the age of 23.

No 322 Squadron of the RAF was formed from the Dutch personnel of 167 Squadron RAF in 1943. At the end of the war the squadron disbanded as part of the RAF, but the squadron number was later revived for a unit of the Royal Netherlands Air Force in recognition of the squadron’s wartime record.

Sussexdown’s traditional ‘Dutch Day’ celebrates Operation Manna, the wartime drop of food over north west Holland by the RAF. Forty years ago the Amsterdam Branch of the Royal Air Forces Association (RAFA) decided to support Sussexdown, then a RAFA home, to celebrate Operation Manna as a way to say thank you for theeffort they played in saving the people from starvation 66 years ago.

Dutch Day included a flying display supported by Shoreham Airport and featured an RAF helicopter, a Spitfire, an X-300, and a Harvard. One of the highlights of the display is the traditional dropping of cheeses by parachute into the grounds of Sussexdown by the Dutch ‘Edambusters’.

Much of the organisation of Dutch Day has now been taken over by Care South, who acquired Sussexdown in 2007. Susan Willoughby, Chief Executive said: “We are delighted to host this historic event at Sussexdown once again. ‘Dutch Day’ is a wonderful occasion which is greatly enjoyed by all who are involved.”

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