News from Holland

Hi all,
        Now the really cold weather has hopefully gone until next winter I got both bikes out today.
The MZ has been in use during the cold weather and needed a good "Gunking" before I change the oil and replace an 'o' ring in the clutch housing when the wind drops.
The Guzzi needs a good clean but it's still too chilly here to spend hours working on getting the efflorescence off the cylinders/heads etc.

Near to us here at Obdam there is a small village called Spanbroek with a small church on the outskirts.  Some while back I was cycling past it when I saw the "Commonwealth War Graves" sign on the gate.
Going into the graveyard I found the graves of 5 of the crew of a Lancaster lost in 1944.
Now that I have a (somewhat grotty) digital camera I was able to take a shot of them and send them to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission in the UK to update their entry.

Not far from the church yard there is a memorial to the crew of a Stirling which was crashing onto some cottages in Opmeer when the pilot managed to steer his plane clear into an empty field and in gratitude the memorial was erected.

The object in the third photo is the propeller hub and a somewhat bent propeller blade from the Stirling.
There are many other such memorials nearby as Bomber Command and the 8th Air Force lost bombers to the flak ships moored in the Zuider Zee under the bombers path home.
"Zij vielen voor onze vrijheid" means "They fell for our freedom.