father worked at the aircraft factory in
Pontypridd. They were soon joined by Reg and
Ron. Reg then went to college in nearby
Cardiff to train as a toolmaker. Reg was
well liked and respected by his large circle
of friends. He loved sport (cricket & rugby)
and played a piano accordion. He was keen to
learn to fly and had several books on the
subject. Being in a "reserve occupation"
Reg was not required to enlist, but did so
wanting to volunteer to fight the enemy and
help save his country. After enlisting he was
trained as a flight engineer and
flew with 190 Sqn RAF.
Sergeant Reginald Nevard was the flight
engineer on Stirling Mk IV, LK195 that took
off on 6 November 1944 from their base Great
Dunmow. The crew consisted of:
F/O Edwin D. Hodgson, Pilot
F/O Elmer J. Rusenstrom, navigator
F/O George L. Towns, bomb-aimer
W/O William King, wireless operator/air
gunner
Sgt Reginald H.G. Nevard, engineer
F/O Henry E. Evans, tail gunner
Their mission was drop supplies to the
Dutch resistance on drop zone in the Noordoost polder,
(Northeast polder, part of the province of
Overijssel on the east side of the
IJsselmeer). The codename for this mission
was Dudley 3.
It appears the
crew had trouble locating the drop zone.
Freek Luider, himself someone who
participated in the droppings, happened to
be outside that night after 'doing some
business'. He heard the Stirling fly over
the town of Venhuizen, near Enkhuizen,
apparently looking for the DZ(*). The Stirling flew extremely
low overhead and Mr. Luider heard a big thump
shortly after. Then
silence. F/O Hogdson had flown his Stirling
so low it had
crashed into the IJsselmeer just of the
coast of Venhuizen, killing all of the crew.
Five of the six crew members were recovered
at the time and buried in Enkhuizen.
In 1948 the
municipality of Venhuizen unveiled a
monument at the dike near the crash site.
The unveiling
of the monument at the dike in Venhuizen in
1948. (pictures courtesy of Mr. Douglas
Nevard)
Memorial
erected in memory of the crew, at the point
of the dike behind which the Stirling
crashed.
In 1991 the
plane was salvaged and the remains of F/O
Evans were found in his turret. He is buried
in Bovenkarspel.
(*) There is
some confusion about the target DZ of this
plane. Although F/O Hodgson clearly flew
over a DZ area (Codenamed DRAUGHTS 7), it seems no drops were
expected that night on that particular DZ.
Another source states that the intended drop
zone was in the Noordoostpolder (DUDLEY 3), on the
other side of the IJsselmeer, roughly 15
kilometers east of where they crashed.
