An eyewitness
in Ten Boer, Northeast of the city of
Groningen, claims that the Sterling was
attacked over his hometown. He states: "It
was a very busy night were planes are
concerned. All of a sudden we heard two
bursts of machinegun fire, shortly after
each other. Just after that bombs fell just
east of St. Annen." A police report states
that 29 bombs (27 incendiary) were dropped,
of which only three ignited. The fire that
was caused could be extinguished quickly.
One person was lightly wounded.
The eyewitness
continues: "Up in the sky a fire became
visible that moved in a northerly direction.
A few days later we heard a plane crashed
near the dike at Westernieland."
People in
several north Groningen towns heard the loud
roar of engines overhead. Those who went
outside to look saw a bomber flying North
with what appeared to be a light inside.
Once over the mudflats the plane caught fire,
exploded
and crashed.
One eyewitness remembers: "The
pieces of the plane were strewn out over a
large area, several kilometers across. This
was about 1 to 2 kilometers out into the
mudflats from Westernieland." Three days
later, about eight Dutchmen, under command
of a German NCO went out to recover the
bodies. All they found was pieces of
wreckage, no large parts of the plane were
found. Most of the crew were found between
and under the pieces. They were brought to the
dike were they were put into coffins after
which they spent two days in a stable of a
farmer in Pieterburen. Then they were
buried in Westernieland.
One of the
Bristol Hercules engines of W/C Knocker's
BF313. (courtesy
of Ab Jansen in Wespennest Leeuwarden,
vol. I, pg 288)
BF313 was shot
down by a night fighter piloted by Ofw
Karl-Heinz Scherfling of II./NJG2 and
crashed at 0150 of 3 July 1942 onto
mudflats near Westernieland. The whole crew
was killed.
Mr. van
Hoorn was one of the Dutch men that were
tasked by the Germans to recover the
bodies the next day. He says that the
tail was shot off and that they found
the crew in their positions in the
wreckage. Apparently the pilot had tried
to crash-land the plane at high tide.
The next day Mr. van Hoorn checked the
wreck and the day after that they
recovered the bodies and put them in
coffins which they brought to the farm
of Mr. Boerma. The coffins were
put in a corner of the farm, with black
curtains around them. The local
population came to the farm to bring
flowers.
Two or
three days later the Germans buried the
crew with military honors at
Westernieland. In attendance were the
mayor and the German commander.
That
same day an unknown soldier was buried
that had washed on the shore.
(picture by
Wim Bastiaanse)
