Commonwealth War Grave Protestant Churchyard Heesbeen

Heesbeen Protestant Churchyard contains one Commonwealth burial. This is the grave of Robert Oliver (Bob) Brigden. On 31 August 1944 the Mosquito VI NS878 of the 605 squadron with two crew members left the RAF base Manston for an attack on the Luftwaffe air base Gilze-Rijen in Holland. The two crew members were pilot Robert Oliver Brigden and navigator Tom Harris. The plane was shot down over Holland by a German Flak anti aircraft gun and crashed down on 1 September at 0.15 in Heesbeen. Harris survived the crash thanks to his parachute. Brigden didn't survive the crash and is buried in this cemetery.

Photo 4: Robert (front left) and other crew members in front of a Douglas Boston III bomber.
Photo 5: Robert and his wife Nellie in early 1944.

Many thanks to Tony Brigden for his support!

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Source

• Text: TracesOfWar.nl
• Photos: TracesOfWar.nl (1,2,3) & Tony Brigden (4,5)