Monument Luitenant John Robertson

The B-17 bomber 'Lucky Lady' of pilot lieutenant Berwaldt was shot down near Orvelte by a Focke-Wulf Fw 190 of Staffelkapitän Hans Ehlers on December 11, 1943. All 11 passengers got out with their parachutes. Only co-pilot lieutenant John Robertson didn't survive, as he was shot down in his descending to the ground.

On December 11, 1943, 584 American four-engined bombers gathered over England. The Americans were ordered to carry out an attack on the port complex of Emden. After the ports of Kiel, Hamburg and Bremen had been partially shut down, it was now Emden's turn. Iron ore was brought in via Emden for the Roergebeid. Of great importance for Germany. Submarines were also assembled in Emden. The flight via the North Sea was difficult because the weather was bad. 24 bombers had to return for various reasons and 17 were lost. Four of them crashed in the provinces of Groningen and Drenthe. One of these was the Lucky Lady. On board was the co-pilot John Robertson. The machine flew with smoking engines over Hoogezand. The crew decided to abandon the aircraft.
John Robertson came down at Zuidlaarderveen. Because German soldiers had fired on his parachute, he came down hard and he did not survive this fall. German soldiers from the barracks in Zuidlaren were quick to act and took him to Zuidlaren. Here he was buried in the cemetery. After the war he was transferred to a war cemetery. The other crew members landed safely between Hoogezand and Zuidlaren.
The aircraft flew on automatic pilot to Orvelte. Here it crashed unmanned.

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