Excavations began outside the north Holland village of Berkhout yesterday as part of an effort to recover the remains of an Irish gunner.
New Ross-born Sgt John Edward (Jack) Kehoe (19) was on board an RAF Hampden bomber returning from a mission over Essen in Germany when it was shot down by a German Messerschmidt on the night of November 8th, 1941.
Jack's sister, Peggy Walsh (88) from Tullamore, Co Offaly, and her daughter Margaret Tracey campaigned vigorously to have Jack's remains brought home. His mother had asked before her death that he have "a Christian burial and be laid to rest next to her in consecrated ground".
As excavation machinery moved in yesterday, Margaret, who is from Naas, Co Kildare said: "My mum Peggy would have been too emotional to attend today. But she came to Holland many times searching for Uncle Jack over the years.
"After all this time we cannot believe it's the beginning of his final journey home; it's what our grandmother always wanted; she never got over his death or never knowing where he was."
Residents of Berkhout have been incredibly supportive, say the Irish family. "The brothers on whose land it is are wonderful. People lay flowers at the spot every year. The villagers have taken us to their hearts".
"People here in Holland have never forgotten the sacrifices made to defeat Hitler, they suffered so much and are so grateful still," said Sheila Hamilton, whose mother Mary, then aged 18, was engaged to Jack Kehoe.
"My mother told me Jack, whom she always called Paddy, was the love of her life, they were planning to marry. They had met when he was doing radar training at the RAF base at Scampton, Lincolnshire."
An estimated 11,000 British planes came down over the country during the second World War, more than half of them in north Holland. In the Netherlands, field graves are usually left undisturbed, unless there are unexploded bombs that pose a danger to the public. When remains are found they are interred in one of the many war cemetries here.
The cost and feasibility of excavating this crash site and obtaining the permission of the family - scattered all over the world - of the other airman inside, Briton Stanley Mullenger, held up work until now.
Over the next five weeks a specialist team will search the site and then raise the wreckage of the bomber, as part of a €1 million excavation project.
The Hampden is four metres deep in what was then a potato field, later planted with tulips and pasture for sheep. A simple cross marking the spot of the crash had been erected by German soldiers billeted in the village in 1941.
Peggy and Margaret were assisted throughout by the Irish Embassy in The Hague, which will later be involved in repatriation arrangements.
They found the location of the Hampden bomber with the support of DARE, a Dutch foundation dedicated to examining the history of air battles over Dutch territory.
There were many false leads and disappointments along the way, including rumours that a road had been built over the crashed plane. There was added confusion because Jack's name had been misspelt on a stone commemorating dead airmen in North Holland.
His ID plate (dog tag) found locally was so crumpled that he was named as "J. E. K. Shoe" instead of JE Kehoe.