A visit from Australia By rolle, Sydvestvendsyssel Lokalavisen, May 2005     Besøg fra Australien

Captions:
Henry James Brock Lewis is the son of Jane Georgina Lewis, today a youthful lady, 85 years old.
Henry James Brock called ”Joe” and Harold Eric Brock called ”Jim”. Jim was buried in Hanover.
Flowers and flags were placed on the grave in Hune. On Monday Mayor Flemming Jensen handed over a present to the visitors from Australia when they were invited to an informal meeting.

No, it was not Crown Princess Mary who visited Hune Vicarage last Sunday, but in some way she has a little part of the history:

On the day of the wedding of the Crown Prince Couple on 14 May 2004 there was a memorial ceremony in Hune Churchyard to the Tasmanian airman Henry James Brock, 23, who perished near Scotland, when his plane crashed into the sea. Some months later his body was washed ashore near Rødhus, and he was buried in Hune Churchyard.

Last year via the Embassy of Australia in Copenhagen cuttings from Danish newspapers mentioning the story were sent to Judith. Together with her two sons she then had the idea of a tour of Europe.

Judy is a youthful lady, 85 years old. She had two younger brothers when the war broke out, but she lost both of them. Henry, 23, was buried in Hune, and a younger brother was buried in Hanover, also after an air crash.

Lokalavisen meets Judith and her eldest son in the vicarage after they had laid flowers on Henry’s grave and had placed the flag of Australia there. Her son was born 9 months after the death of his uncle, and it was obvious to name him Henry Lewis after his deceased uncle. Judith’s younger son will join them on Monday.

This journey is important for them. They flew to Hanover where they saw the younger brother’s grave, and then they hired a car and drove north. On Monday they are to visit the beach near Rødhus and after that they will meet Mayor Flemming Jensen. Then they go on to Copenhagen to visit the Embassy of Australia. Their journey ends with a family visit in London.

They are to be in Europe for 3-4 weeks, and even if the journey has a serious element the mother and her two sons enjoy travelling together.

”She is so positive and easy to travel with,” states Henry Lewis. ”Hard to imagine that she is that old.”

Of course we also talk about Mary. They do not know her personally, but in newspapers and magazines they have followed the fairy tale of the beautiful Tasmanian girl who married the Crown Prince of Denmark.

They think that she is doing well, and it seems as if she is already more popular than her father-in-law. Of course we think that it is exciting to live in Denmark. In some way it warms us that she has become a part of the country where Henry was buried.