Opijnen

Opijnen
Village
The village centre (red) and the statistical district (light green) of Opijnen in the former municipality of Neerijnen.
Coordinates: 51°49′40″N 5°17′54″E / 51.82778°N 5.29833°E / 51.82778; 5.29833Coordinates: 51°49′40″N 5°17′54″E / 51.82778°N 5.29833°E / 51.82778; 5.29833
Country	Netherlands
Province	Gelderland
Municipality	West Betuwe
Population  (2005)
• Total	1,057
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)

Opijnen is a village in the Dutch province of Gelderland. It is a part of the municipality of West Betuwe, and lies about 10 km southwest of Tiel.

Opijnen was a separate municipality until 1818, when it changed its name to Est en Opijnen.^[1]

Opijnen is home to the graves of eight American airmen who were shot down on July 30, 1943, and killed while returning to England from a bombing raid over Kassel, Germany. The village honored the airmen - George Richard Krueger, Mike Anthony Perrotta, Daniel Victor Ohman, Hermon Daines Poling, Harold Royce Sparks, Robert Urquhart Duggan, Douglas Victor Blackwood, and Americo Chiafichi - by burying them in their cemetery. From that time and for seventy-five years afterwards, the village honored these men annually with a formal church service and then a laying of flowers on the graves. In 2006, the village opened a housing complex with eighty-six units. The airmen were further honored by having the streets in that housing complex named after them.^[2]

In 2001, the village of Opijnen had 641 inhabitants. The built-up area of the village was 0.18 km², and contained 260 residences.^[3] The statistical area "Opijnen", which also can include the peripheral parts of the village, as well as the surrounding countryside, has a population of around 1060.^[4]

References[]

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