AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |
Back to Blog
Daniel webber 7168/28/2023 His left leg lay in the street.īy a twist of fate, despite crashed three days in between and 58 km apart, the men of the OF-B and OF-C, who knew each other well, were buried together in Amsterdam-Watergraafmeer, New Eastern Cemetery on 28 December 1942. Roy Bambury got out, but he fell dead with half deployed parachute on a tile rooftop of an appartment at Adelaarsweg 116. The bomber crashed in the Volewijkers-park where today metro station Noorderpark is. The shooting over the Meeuwenlaan and Zamenhof street had been intense. A Flak-train (TF) and three light Flak towers (LF) in park 'Vliegenbos' and heavy Flak (HF) in Nieuwendam (Amsterdam-Noord) finished the R5512 off. Then three light Flak towers (LF) between Schellingwoude and Durgerdam fired on the R5512, who fired back with it's machine guns at the search lights. At 21:05 a light Flak unit (LF) and a seach light opened up on the OF-C first at the Overdiemer-sluice (south-east corner below). The OF-C came over central Holland, passed over Hilversum, but had no luck because it flew right into the well defended Amsterdam-harbour entrance. Probably an engine was shot out over the target. He was stuggling and limping back to England. Something happened over Duisburg, because on the return he came 30 minutes delayed from Duisburg and was flying low on only 500 meters altitude. In 97's Sqn next mission, the evening of 20 December 1942, Pilot Officer Bill Eales took-off in the OF-C for his first combat mission, night-bombing the German war industry in Duisburg. After just five training missions, the OF-C Eales crew had to step up and fill the gap the OF-B had left. Unknown to everybody the OF-B McBurney crew was shot down by a German nightfighter and crashed (7 KIA) on the East side of Lake IJsselmeer, in the wet North East Polder, 3 km east of Urk (K. Then in the night of 17/, the OF-B did not return from a mission. Lancaster OF-B (ED333) piloted by Canadian F/O Samuel McBurney, was already on operational flights bombing Germany, while the OF-C flown by P/O William Eales was still in training at 97 Sqn on Lancasters, making cross-country trainings over the UK and the North Sea. In the weeks before 17 December 1942 at 97 Sqn (squadron code 'OF'), most crews consisted of a mixed British/Canadian crew. Research on Lancaster R5512 (OF-C) and the relation with Lancaster ED333 (OF-B): Malcolm Mason, vice-president of the RAFA, made the opening speech. The R5512 Foundation is also in the advanced proces of building a full scale Lancaster front section/cockpit including original instruments, see further below. This recovery in 1962 was the first time the later Dutch Airforce Recovery-officer Gerrit Zwanenburg came in contact with aircraft recovery, because he attented the 1962-recovery as a visitor. Three crew were buried in 1942, but during construction in 1962 the main body of the aircraft was discovered and the missing four airmen were found. Exact on this spot this Lancaster (the OF-C, crew Eales, 97 Sqn RAF) crashed deep in the ground on 20 December 1942 after being shot down by German Flak. Tuesday 20 december 2022, the City of Amsterdam and the Crash Lancaster R5512 Memorial Foundation reveiled a plaque for R5512 in underground-train station Amsterdam Noorderpark (Noord-Zuid Line). Commemorative plaque for crew R5512, Amsterdam. This resulted in a massive website with unique self-researched data: Over the years he contacted 759 British, American, Canadian and Australian airmen-families and ploughed through many old governmental file that enabled him to finally clarify, reconstruct and publish in great detail what had happened in hundreds of airplane crashes in his area. Since he stopped working as a civil engineer at Delft Hydraulics, he focused the last 16 years on web-design and studied the WW2-airwar in a 50 x 50 mile radius around his town (see square on map below). He probably died of a stroke in the week before. Police found him in his house on the 29th of January. Last contact with him was mid January 2023. On Monday February 6th 2023, the memorial service for Teun was held in Meppel, not far from his hometown Vollenhove.
0 Comments
Read More
Leave a Reply. |