David Haggie – Image by Clive Leviev-Sawyer

Article reprinted with kind permission – The Author Clive Leviev-Sawyer

Seven South African Air Force fliers who died in June 1944 after being shot down during a bombing mission, and who are buried in the Commonwealth War Graves section of Sofia Cemetery, now have a plaque commemorating them at the South African embassy.

The plaque was unveiled at a June 22 2011 ceremony presided over by ambassador Sheila Camerer, with a dedication ceremony conducted by Anglican chaplain Reverend Patrick Irwin and, in attendance, David Haggie, a nephew of one of the SAAF men and who paid for the placing of the memorial.

The airmen, in two Liberators, were shot down by the Luftwaffe and the aircraft crashed on Bulgarian soil.

Those who died were Major JA Mouton, Lieutenant HH Bunce, Lt DJS Haggie, Lt D Lindley, Lt RG Southey and Warrant Officers class 2 WS Barrett and DT Flynn.

Speaking at the ceremony – where guests included ambassadors and senior diplomats from Allied embassies and representatives of Bulgaria’s Defence Ministry – David Haggie said that for years it had not been easy to get information about the circumstances that led to the fallen air crew being buried in Sofia Cemetery.

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