Brabant Wallon

Located to the south of Brussels, this French-speaking province contains a number of delightful small towns and villages worth exploring, such as Beauvechain, Chaumont-Gistoux, Genappe, Grez-Doiceau, Jodoigne, La Hulpe, Nivelles, Orp-Jauche, Villers-la-Ville, Waterloo and Wavre. In between them is lovely undulating countryside with a fair smattering of woods. The whole area is criss-crossed by some lovely short or long-distance walks.

Memorials and watermills in Rebecq

The museum display includes the tailplane of the Lancaster

Until May 29th, in the village of Rebecq, 25 km south-west of Brussels, the local museum is hosting an exhibition to commemorate the loss of an RAF Lancaster shot down over the village in the Second World War. During the night of 27/28 May 1944, the Lancaster was returning from a bombing mission over Aachen when it was attacked by a German night-fighter. The Lancaster, which belonged to 550 Squadron, crashed at Rebecq. Five crew were killed and are buried in Evere cemetery, Brussels; two crew survived.

The memorial to the RAF Lancaster which was shot down over Rebecq in 1944

On May 7th this year a memorial to the crash victims was unveiled and dedicated in Rebecq. Representatives of RAF 550 Squadron Association were present at the ceremony, along with guests from the UK, Canada and Italy. The display at the museum includes part of the tailplane on which one of the wounded airmen was carried to the local hospital. It was found in a loft when part of the building was demolished recently.Read More »Memorials and watermills in Rebecq