Crash Site Douglas C-47 Dakota Mk III KG489

This is the crash site of Dakota Mk III KG489. On September 21, 1944, a group of Dakotas left for a supply flight to Arnhem. Three Dakotas arrived a little later and formed the rearguard of the flight to Arnhem for Operation Market Garden. They left Blakehill Farm for DZ-V near Arnhem at 1:15 PM. And flew over the Market Garden (Leopoldsburg-Eindhoven-Arnhem) advance route, which was considered safe at the time, so no security flew with it. On the way back around 5:30 PM they were shot down by a Focke Wolf 190. The remains of the Dakota landed scattered on a meadow on the Everse Akkerpad Eerschot Sint-Oedenrode.

Canadian crew:
Charles Cressman (pilot) J35991 Uden war cemetery
J S Blair (co-pilot) J36992 Groesbeek war cemetery
Paul Steffin (Navigator) J24238 Groesbeek war cemetery
T J Brennan (radio operator) J27326 Groesbeek war cemetery

British Air Despatchers:
Donald Frederick Tite (Driver) - 799 Air Despatch Company
George Henry Rhodes T/10694070 (corporal) - 799 Air Despatch Company
Reginald Arthur Adams T/3911832 (lance corporal) - 799 Air Despatch Company
Rowland John Claxton T/5770427 (driver) - 799 Air Despatch Company
They are buried next to each other in the cemetery in Sint-Oedenrode.

A few years later, the propeller was pulled out of the ground and remained for a while as an unofficial monument at the Bever garden center. The propeller was stolen during the construction of the A50 highway in 2005. The garden center is also no longer there. There are no visible landmarks or monuments at the crash site.

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Source

• Text: Liesbeth Blogt
• Photos: Liesbeth Blogt