Memorial Halifax DT 795

On the dike along the Apeldoorns canal, near Vrieze's Heritage at Groteweg 54 in Wapenveld (Gld), a monument and information panel in tribute to the crew of Halifax DT 795. This plane crashed in the late evening of April 3, 1943 on this location near windmill de Vlijt where the seven crew members were killed.

The aircraft crew consisted of
- Frederick Henry Blake (26) from Oregon (USA), pilot
- Rodney Webber (21) from California (USA), turret gunner
- Thomas Victor Trollope (22) from Walthanstow (England), rear gunner
- Philip Henry Eldridge (29) from King's Langley, England, radio operator
- William David Hawkins (23) from Gloucester (England), navigator
- John Ceredig Jones (31) from Llanon (Wales) bomb aimer
- Gerard Stanley Walters (22) from Stratford (England), Flight Engineer

The seven departed in the early evening of April 3, 1943 from the English airport Lisett for a flight to the Krupp factories in Essen. A total of 348 aircraft took part in this raid. The aircraft has probably already been hit by anti-aircraft guns when it appears on the radar of the Wehrmacht. This leads the fighter with pilot Emil Heinzelmann and his board funker Wilhelm Horling to Halifax. Heinzelman later reports in his report that he saw the Halifax shot down and crash over Wapenveld, about 10 km from Zwolle, at an altitude of 4600 meters. The plane drills into the dike of the Apeldoorn canal. The crash has also been reported by air defense Heerde. On Sunday morning, April 4, soldiers of the German Weather Force arrive at the crash site. The bodies of pilot Harry Blake, rear gunner Thomas Victor Trollope and turret gunner Rodney Webber are recovered. Their bodies are buried at the Lusthof cemetery in Leusden. After a few weeks the Germans resumed the salvage. One body - it is unknown who - is buried in the cemetery in Wapenveld and, thanks to the population, is given a memorial after the war.

On the initiative of Vrieze's Erfgoed, in October 2011 the municipality of Heerde will place a plaque with the names of the seven crew members at the crash site. Vrieze's Heritage will then have an information panel placed next to this plaque in April 2014.

In September 2014, a salvage operation will be carried out in the context of a remediation operation of the Apeldoorn canal. This under the leadership of Major Arie Kappert, Staff Officer Aircraft Salvage of the Royal Netherlands Air Force. The remains of three people were found by members of the Salvage and Identification Service of the Royal Netherlands Army (BIDKL). The investigation into the identification has not yet been completed. The intention is to rebur these physical remains after identification in the cemetery in Wapenveld. Also a 1500 kg of parts and also small caliber ammunition are salvaged. After the recovery operation, the plaque and the information panel were replaced. The killed crew members are commemorated annually on May 4 at the cemetery in Wapenveld.

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Source

• Text: Jan Nitrauw
• Photos: Arjan Vrieze
• 'Het is oorlog, jongen', Jan Nitrauw (ISBN 978 94 918 2630 6)