Halifax HR836 Memorial
Posted by: 
naj16
N 52° 11.436 E 004° 28.945
31U E 601333 N 5783273
Memorial at the location where the RAF Halifax HR836 crashed.
Waymark Code: WMGJ03
Location: Zuid-Holland, Netherlands
Date Posted: 03/10/2013
Views: 23
After a raid on Essen in the night of May 23th 1943, Halifax II HR 836 of no 51 Squadron, RAF Snaith, was attacked near Leiden in the Netherlands.
Oberfeldwebel Heinz Vinke, flying an ME110 nightfighter from Bergen Airfield near Alkmaar, a very experienced pilot, put an end to the flight home of the brand new Halifax, out on its first mission. At 02.24hr in the early morning of May 24th, the big bomber crashes in the Morsebelpolder.
The crew doesn't stand a chance: Fl.Off. John Edward Rigby (pilot, 21), Fl.Off. Thomas Herbert Green (bomb aimer,25), Fl.Sgt. Henry Graham Freeman (navigator, 24, RCAF), Fl.Sgt. Merto Earl Zapfe (tail gunner,20, RCAF),Sgt. Allister Milner Hood Black (mech., 25), Sgt. Aubrey Edgar Perrin Rochester (radio,gunner, 33) and Sgt. Henry John Gibbs (gunner, 18) all die in the crash. The plane buries itself very deep into the peat and only the tail remains above the ground.
The Germans bury Green, Rochester, Zapfe and Black at the nearby cemetary of the 700 y. old Groene Kerkje ("Green Church"). Very little is found of Freeman , Gibbs and Rigby. Only part of the wreckage was removed, the rest remaining too deep under the ground
At the exact spot of the crash, a beautiful monument was unveiled, in the middle of what is now a road in the modern Haaswijk neighbourhood, where Freeman, Gibbs and Rigby remain buried for ever in the wreckage, almost 7 meters deep under the ground.
Text at the plaque:
'OP DEZE PLAATS PROBEERDE DE BEMANNING VAN DE HALIFAX HR 836,
VAN 51 SQUADRON RAF, IN DE VROEGE OCHTEND VAN 24 MEI 1943 EEN
NOODLANDING TE MAKEN. HIERBIJ KWAM DE GEHELE BEMANNING OM HET LEVEN
DRIE VAN DE MANNEN RUSTEN NOG OP DEZE PLEK:
PILOT, FLYINGOFFICER JOHN EDWARD RIGBY, RAF (VR), 21 JAAR
NAVIGATOR, FLIGHT SERGEANT HENRY GRAHAM FREEMAN, RCAF 24 JAAR
MID UPPER GUNNER, SERGEANT HENRY JOHN GIBBS, RAF (VR) ± 19 JAAR
DE ANDERE VIER ZIJN TEN RUSTE GELEGD BIJ HET GROENE KERKJE:
BOMB AIMER, FLYING OFFICER THOMAS HERBERT GREEN, RAF (VR), 25 JAAR
REAR GUNNER, FLIGHT SERGEANT MERTON EARL ZAPFE, RCAF, 20 JAAR
WIRELESS OPERATOR/ AIR GUNNER, SERGEANT AUBREY EDGAR PERRIN ROCHESTER, RAF (VR), 33 JAAR
FLIGHT ENGINEER, SERGEANT ALASTAIR MILNER HOOD BLACK, RAF, 25 JAAR'.
Date of Dedication: 05/04/2009
Property Permission: Public
Access instructions: Kleyn Proffijtlaan Oegstgeest.
Website for Waymark: [Web Link]
Location of waymark:
Kleyn Proffijtlaan
Oegstgeest., Netherlands
Commemoration: Allied soldiers
Access times: Not listed
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