bombing of the barn, my Dads story

Excellent: nothing new on my side I'm afraid. I called several mine experts but they could neither confirm nor infirm what I asked about the power of mines on an land explosion.

 

well nothing new here either, unfortunately. the only thing i keep going back to here is the date, no one can confirm the exact date!

 

Hey Big Fun. It looks like it just fell from the sky!
I thought you 'd like to see what a mine looked like. The undersea cable broke or got loose and the mine got stranded during the war, possibly on the Dutch coast. Look at the details, there is some weed on it . There is also a ship behind. There is still part of the cable attached to it.

 

wow, that's a pretty good picture! i would think that something that big would cause more damage than what happened to the barn. I have talked to more of my aunts and uncles but no one seems to have any further info on the subject. Looks like I have hit a dead end. But we got plenty of info here, and thanks to you all!

 

Wow!!!
I am really excited about this update!!

Today I rec'd an email form the President of the Ten Post historical Society! He did exhaustive research for me on this subject! Here is some of the content of the email he sent me!!

I searched in the archives from the municipal Ten Boer and the provincial war archives, I found nothing.
After that I found a book: (translated) "with the look up". In the book I read: on 11 october 1941, saturday at 22.45, a bomb fell behind Graslanden, which made an enormous damage.

So it looks like the picture has the wrong date on it!! It's 1941!!! Maybe the Rogue's here can find a definite flight record for that day! On the rest of the email......

East of this farm fell another 7 bombs.
One cow died and another had to be killed.
Seven houses in the nearby had glassdamage.

Nearby the Graslanden lives a farmer: Henderikus Kooistra, he was'nt born yet at the time of the bombing, but heard the story ofter enough and knows a lot of it. Together with him I visited Graslanden.
In the back wall from Graslanden is a memorial stone with the year 1941 (see picture)



So we can be 100% sure that the bombs did'nt fell on 11 october 1942, but on saturdaynight 11 october 1941!
The specific airplane flew from south-west to nord-east, the first bomb fell 5 metres from the back wall after the plan flew over the farm.
In totally there fell 7 or 8 bombs, a few in the direction from Ten Post.
There is a story that in the third crater from a bomb a car was shoved in by blacksmith Woldhuis, after they took off everything useable. That way they prevent they had to give their car to the Germans.

I'm hoping that the new date will reveal alot of info as far as the flight records!

Thanks in advance for your help!!

scott



by the way, he asked me to email Stevin and relay this message to him, I can't PM him as this option is not available, If anyone has his emaill address let me know and I can forward it to you and you to Stevin. Thanks!!

 

Great job Scott nice pic with the impacts on the bricks still visible. This is what I have for the October 11th 1941 date:

I am pretty certain of the info. Only two Blenheims were lost over the area and the operation name is anti shipping! : they are both from 82 Squadron.

1) Blenheim IV . code L4880 UX-Z .Shot down by Flak ship off IJmuiden. Crew : Sgt F E D DAY
Sgt G A Robbins , Sgt F V P Lane. All three deceased . Robiins is buried in Westduin cemetery. The other bodies were not found again. This suggests the Blenheim crashed in North Sea.
To be noticed Ijmuiden is on the Dutch west coast, some 70km away from the barn,
2) BLENHEIM IV V5824 UX-C : lost in similar circumstances. Crew: Sgt J J Ashurts, Sgt T V Steele , Sgt R J Banks. Banks is buried in Westduin too.

Both aircrafts took off from Bodney five minutes before midnight (00.55 in Holland so the time is a bit conflicting but this usually happens after so many years)

Hope this helps!

 

Thanks Skipper!

So have I got this right!? The only two aircrafts listed for this night crashed at a great distance away from Groningen? If this is correct, I guess that would mean they dropped their bombs to escape?

What do you think?

 

I'm actually thinking about a third scenario. Considering both aircrafts were shot down near Ijmuiden , I doubt they would have flown that far east with the mines. If they were still flying it would have been logical to abort the mission, not to carry on, especially as one crew from each aircraft was found near the North sea coast and buried at Westduin. I'd rather think they were blown to bits and crashed near Ijmuiden. Therefore I'm thinking about a third aircraft that was "Only" crippled moments later while over Groningen and which dropped mines to return home. If this has succeeded, it was not recorded in the loss lists of the night. You could check accounts from 82 Squadron, may be there is such a story.

 

I see, just looked at Google earth, so I see what you mean!
I'll go research as much as I can about the 82 Squadron!

Thanks Skip!!

 

That must have been very dangerous and scary for your grandfather. This is a very good example of the dangers of bombing, and inaccuracy.

 

I will focuss on this Squadron this weekend, when I have more time. Remember they flew Blenheims which were two engined aircrafts and quite fragile. The load of the mines must have been considerable considering the small size of the plane. No wonder this was the first thing the crew got rid off when in trouble.

 

That sound great Skipper! I appreciate your help!! I'm still looking up info on the 82nd, lots of info out there!!

 

Most of the children were in bed sleeping, but the parents and Grandparents were sitting around a table with neighbors talking when the bombs/mines were dropped. Most were towards the front of the house, the blast went off at the back of the house. Close call, could have been alot worse!

 

Have another update for this mystery!! I keep hitting dead ends here! I received this email from the Royal Air Force Museum.

Thank you for your enquiry, which we received on 3 April. These aircraft were part of a group of 9 that attacked a convoy of 7 merchant ships and 3 flak ships 15 miles south of IJmuiden. It was a daylight operation, so they would have taken off at 1150 am British Double Summer Time, and both were seen to crash in the sea after being hit by Flak. It is therefore highly unlikely that they would have flown over Groningen.

Yours sincerely

Peter Elliott​

Senior Keeper​

Department of Research & Information Services​

Royal Air Force Museum​

Hendon​

London

So it looks like we are back to square one!!
​

 

I confirm the hours I have are A.M. I didn't notice that before because it said 11.55 only. So bac kto square one: unless it did happen in the morning?

 

It was supposed to have been very early morning. I've sent another email to the RAF national museum, so I hope to hear back from them soon!