A specially-designed memorial to commemorate a deadly war time bombing took place last Saturday in Campile, Co Wexford.
Three young women were killed in the canteen of the Shelburne Co-op after a German Luftwaffe airplane strayed off its bombing path to Britain and dropped its deadly load on the creamery of the quiet Wexford village around 2pm on August 26th 1940.
RTE Television were there to record the memoriam event, which was attended by relatives of the deceased.
A special book has been written on the subject and this was launched the previous Thursday.
Remarkably, the German Ambassador, Busso von Alvensleben, deemed this a worthy event to attend as part of his role in putting forward the case of the new Germany in a peaceful Europe. Similar events occur in places such as Normandy in France, the scene of the Allied invasion in 1944.
Building a new Europe of peace, trade and prosperity was an objective of the new Germany and Mr von Alvensleben told RTE it was his intention to attend such commemorative occasions where the horrors of war are temporarily recalled.
The Ambassador was respectfully applauded prior to his speech and at the conclusion, in a spirit of tolerance in the new Europe.
In his speech, he praised Ireland’s role in peacekeeping for the United Nations and also its own experience in the peace process in Northern Ireland, saying Ireland had much experience to impart.
After the Ambassador’s speech and the blessing, photographs were taken and he spoke with relatives of the deceased.
He said it was important to remember the suffering and the terrifying effect of the bombs that dropped on Campile. “The war was truly devastating and it was an experience that later caused a great mindset change in the people of France and Germany with the forming of the European Union.”
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