A forgotten crash
A forgotten crash
H.P. Peters in his P40 (1942)
Photo: G. Pitchfork
The history of the city of Hellevoetsluis in the Netherlands during the second world war is dominated by the destruction of large parts of the city by the Germans and the inundation of large parts of the surrounding polders.
Hellevoetsluis is not severely affected by military operations or war activities but by the destructiveness by the occupying german forces. It goes without saying that sporadic incidents have occurred but those did not receive much attention. During the war occasionaly bombs fell in the Hellevoetsluis area but often only because the crew had to dump their bombs on their way to Germany because of problems with or damage on their plane.
There is not much known of this period of the town apart from the destruction and inundations, that survived. The memorial monument in Nieuwenhoorn is the only tangible memory of that period in the Hellevoetsluis area.
Nevertheless, more can be found if you search. On the cemetery of Nieuw Hellevoet a lonely grave can be found of an unknown Canadian Aviator. The tombstone only gives a date, December 30th. 1943. There are no records found of the recovery of this body but it was believed to have washed ashore near Hellevoetsluis. Hoever Hellevoetsluis was used by the German Kriegs Marine and it is possible that Marine vessels recoved the body at sea and brought it on shore at Hellevoetsluis for burrial.
Grave of an unknown Canadian airman on the cemetery of Neuw Hellevoet
Photo: Pieter Schlebaum
The presence of the Port of Rotterdam, its industry and the subsequent FLAK (anti-aircraft) guns nearby made the Allies avoid this area as much as possible. Unless they went there for a specific purpose. As a result, only a small part of the air war took place over Hellevoetsluis and Voorne- Putten. Especially when you compare it with other area's of the Netherlands. Having said that there are still very interesting stories to be told about this period in this area of the Netherlands the tomb of the unknown airman proves that.
It was not unusual for planes to be shot down on the way back from missions over Germany and some of those crashed on Voorne-Putten or crashed off the coast of Holland. During the war almost 6.000 planes were lost over the Netherlands.
An example of such a plane wnet down in 1942, a Halifax bomber of the 78th Squadron crashed in the "Haringvliet" near Hellevoetsluis. Searches in archives and records teaches us that such events were not an everyday thing. When we take a closer look into the the period leading up to 30 December 1943 we see that there are only a few crashes in this area.
Only in two cases it involved a Canadian aircraft crew. (see below)
The first was the Mustang MK1 of Squadron Leader HP Peters of the 414th. squadron that crashed on November 5th. 1943 around 12.15 hours in the "Haringvliet" near Hellevoetsluis. The second was the Halifax bomber from the 76 V Sqdr. flown by CW Matthewson that crashed on December 20th. 1943 at 21.55 hours in the North Sea off the coast of Goeree. This plane had on board the Canadian Sgt. DSMcClelland.
Both men are unaccounted for until this day. It is unlikely that a body from a plane that crashed off the coast of Goeree ended up on the shores near Hellevoetsluis. Especially since the bodies of other crew members of this aircraft washed ashore at other locations along the coast and the last known position of this plane was near Zoutelande much further south than Goeree.
This leaves HP Peters or another unknown airman that we do not know anything about.
Herbert Peter Peters was born in Regina, Alberta, Canada. Immediately after completing his education at the University of Saskatchewan, he has registered with the RCAF where he completed pilot training in July 1940. He was a veteran of missions at low altitude, "search and destroy" missions where the pilots in a given area were looking for opportunity targets. They flew at very low altitude of up to 15-20 meters, away from radar and AAA-guns and to give them a chance surprise their targets. Often, the targets for such missions were trucks, locomotives, ships or installations. Such missions were known under the code name 'Rhubarb' missions. H.P. Peters had developed into a specialist for these missions and was very successful. He had worked his way up from the 414 Squadron, to squadron leader and was rewarded for his efforts with the DFC (distinguished Flying Cross). He had received this award for actions on May 25, 1943 and had flown 46 missions at that time since August 22, 1941, among others he participated in two operations during the failed landing at Dieppe.
In March 1941 after he arrived in the UK he first went to No. 1 School of Army Co-operation at Old Sarum, Wiltshire, where he began flying in a Lysander reconnaissance aircraft that would later gain fame with its use for covert missions in to occupied territory. In August of that same year he was transferred to Flight 1416, were he trained on on Spitfires before he was eventually transferred to the 400th Squadron of the RCAF, again at Old Sarum. At that time this was a squadron that flew Lysanders, shortly after he joined the 400th squadron was equipped with the Curtiss P40 Tomahawk in which Peters flew his first real combat mission to Beauchamp. In January 1942, he flew his first "Rhubarb" mission against targets near Le Touquet. His logbook shows no fewer than 24 combat missions before the end of 1942.
He also flew single observation missions over enemy territory where he made photographs of important objects and coastal installations. For example, he flew at least seven of these "Popular" missions along the French coast al the way to Berck Boulogne-sur-Mer. Although he was fired upon several times by flak he delivered excellent pictures of the entire coastline. Until December 1st. 1942 Peters had flown five "Rhubarb" operations in which he knocked out four locomotives in Brettagne and damaged a locomotive, a factory and attacked an anti-aircraft position in Normandy. His squadron had now switched to the Mustang MK1 a plane which later versions earned a legendary reputation during the second world war . This first type, however, had some weaknesses which was why it was mainly used on Rhubarb with a small chance that it would engage German fighters. The engine of this first type of Mustang (the Allison V-1710) lost above 4000 feet so much power that this type was no match for German fighters at these heights. Only after this type of engine was replaced by the Rolls-Royce Merlin the Mustang became almost unbeatable and was a match to all known German fighters.
Between December 3rd. 1942 and January 1st., 1943 Peters was involved in missions over West Europe and the Bay of Biscay. His knowledge and experience in operating and navigating at low altitudes enabled him to make long flights of over 550 miles of which 12 were flown at a height of less than 500 feet. On March 13, 1943 around 22:30 Peters and his wingman circelde south-east of Paris near the airport Melun. He was then caught in the light of a searchlight but just then his wingman saw a Do217 approaching the airfield. Peters flew away from his wingman and lured the spotlight away from his wingman who was thus able to shoot the Dornier down.
On March 16, 1943, on his second consecutive night on "Ranger" operations he put up 750 miles away all the way to Rheims and Laon-Athis airport. Returning from this mission he attacked seven barges at Noyon. His knowledge and experience in flying at low altitude and flying at night and his skill in navigating enabled him to fly missions and surprise the enemy in places and at times where they expected no allied aircrafts.
In July 1943 he became CO of No. 414 Squadron, RCAF, and in the ensuing months he ran missions to Paris, Antwerp (via the Scheldt) and St. Omer. Missions to Brussels and Cherbourg followed in September that he looked for his friend and fellow pilot DH Lewis who had been shot down earlier in that region. Unfortunately, that same fate would soon happen to him as well.
Beginning November 1943 had beautiful days with almost summer temperatures during first three days of the month. In the South of the Netherlands in Limburg the temperature even reached 20 degrees Celsius. Then the wind shifted to the east and the temperature began to drop. Still the flying conditions remained good with a weak North-East wind, temperatures of up to 7-8 degrees, no rain and only high clouds in the west.
S / L HPPeters DFC "Pete Instruct the boys'
Photo: CCClarke Photo: CCClarke
November 5th. 1943 Peters was back in the air on a "Rhubarb" mission over Belgium and the Netherlands. This day 18 Mosquitoes, 26 Mustangs and two Spitfires flew missions over the Netherlands, Belgium and northern France. Peters led a group of Mustangs of his Squadron that day. They attacked different trains and radio- and radar masts. Peters had knocked out four locomotives and had attacked a small ship of 200 tons that was shot in flames when he saw a similar vessel. He and his wingman Wannacott also attacked the vessel at very low altitude. During this attack, the Mustang of Peters was hit by FLAK and caught fire. On fire Peters set course for home and while doing so soon found him self over the Haringvliet where FLAK ships fired on him as well from the harbor of Middelharnis and Hellevoetsluis. Near Hellevoetsluis the situation was untenable and Peters tried to leave the plane. Because of the low altitude the parachute could not open in time and Peters hit a mud bank in the middle of the Haringvliet just in front of the town of Hellevoetsluis (de Slijkplaat). His plane crashed just a few seconds later. Wannacott his wingman from his group has observed Peters bailing out and saw the body of Peters on that mud bank.
Yet Peters to this day is known as missing in action. His name is mentioned on the Air Force Memorial at Runnymede near London. He was at the time of his crash just one year married and without knowing it 10 days father of a daughter.
Mustang of the 414th MK1. Squadron, pilot F / O Cliff Horncastle,
Photo: CCClarke
During this mission that day only one plane was lost the Mustang from Peters. Also German archives mention the crash of Peters. The "Kriegestagebuch" of the airbase Gilze-Rijen mention of the downing of a Mustang around 12.13 pm by naval flak SW of Middelharnis after which the aircraft crashed in the 'Maas' (Haringvliet). Another German source says: "Abschuss einer Mustang 1 km SW Hellevoetsluis durch leichte Marine and Schiffsflak. Flugzeug Sturzte in die Maas und sackte dann ab. Der pilot ist ertrunken. Leiche nicht geborgen.”It appears that FLAK units from both Middelharnis and Hellevoetsluis have also fired at the plane. Both seem to have claimed the downing of the Mustang.
It appears that the germans did not see Peters bailing out or his body hitting the mudbank as there is no record of recovery of the body of his burial.
If there are people who have additional information about the crash Peters on 5 November 1943 or the tomb of the unknown Canadian airman in the cemetery of New Hellevoet please let me know.
PETERS, F / L Peter Herbert (J3512) - Distinguished Flying Cross - No.400 Squadron - Award effective 19 May 1943 as per London Gazette dated 25 May 1943 and AFRO 1247/43 dated 2 July 1943. Born in Regina, 1918; home in Edmonton, enlisted in Saskatoon, June 4, 1940. Trained at No.1 ITS (graduated 20 July 1940), No.5 EFTS (graduated 18 September 1940) and No.1 SFTS (graduated 12 December 1940). Commissioned 1941. Killed in action, 5 November 1943 (Mustang AM111) while commanding No.414 Squadron, particularly on Runnymede Memorial. Medal Presented to next-of-kin, 20 February 1945.
Underneath a reference to the above incident from the KTB Admiral in den Niederlanden. (Courtesy H. Jehee)
Based on the research above I feel the most likely casualty that can be linked to the unmarked grave is H.P. Peters. Underneath we will review all possible casualties that could be linked to the unmarked grave at Nieuw-Helvoet.
1. H.P. Peters.
1. The crash occured in the inlet the “Haringvliet” in the neighbourhood of Nieuw-Helvoet where the unmarked grave can be found. It is the crash that occured the closest to Nieuw-Helvoet in the 6 months prior to the recovery of the body at Nieuw-Helvoet.
2. Both German and Allied sources independently from each other give the same crash location (Haringvliet near Hellevoetsluis). Only 1 Mustang was lost on november 5th 1943 .
3. No casualties have been been washed ashore at Nieuw-Helvoet that had been lost at sea. Not before, during or after the war while in Rockanje several Km´s to the west at least 15 casualties washed ashore during the war. This indicates that sea current in front of the Dutch coast just ´scratches´the coastline allowing bodies to be washed ashore only on the actual coast line and not more land inwards. This makes it very unlikely that casualties lost over the Nothsea would wash ahore at Nieuw-Helvoet.
4. Peters crash occured approx 2 months before the recovery of the body. This is perfectly possible as I have found other cases where bodies were recovered even longer than 2 months after a crash.
5. Peters body must have been damaged because of it hitting the mudbank. This together with the time since the crash may have resulted that identifcation was made impossible. It also may have resulted in the loss of a identification tag. This could explain why the body at Nieuw-Helvoet could not be identified during the war.
6. Peters body may have been stuck on the mud bank where it landed and only washed clear of the mudbank after several weeks possibly explaining the time between the crash and the recovery and the fact that the body did not travel much distance while in the water.
7. Witnesses are not known but it is likely that if there were any those did not notice Peters jettison his aircraft short before the crash, as a result the mudbank may not have been investigated after the crash at all. This seems to be confirmed by German records mentioning the crash and sinking of the aircraft and claim the pilot drowned and was not recovered.
2. D.S.McClelland
1. The crash occured only 9-10 days before the body was found
2. The assumed crash location is in front of the coast at Goeree. This is near Nieuw-Helvoet making it the crash that is second closest to the site where the body was recovered.
However
1. Some records give the last known position much more south at 5148N 0344E just of the coast of Zoutelande. The known crash location may be wrong or this last know position was wrong. It does raise additional questions on the actual crash location.
2. As mentioned above no other casualties have been washed ashore at Nieuw-Helvoet that had been lost at sea. Not before, during or after the war while in Rockanje several Km´s to the west at least 15 casualties washed ashore during the war. This indicates that sea current in front of the coast just ´scratches´the coastline allowing bodies to be washed ashore only on the actual coast line and not more land inwards. This makes it very unlikely that casualties lost over the Nothsea would wash ahore at Nieuw-Helvoet.
3. The actual crash location is not exactly known, could be several KM´s out at sea
4. Crewmember F.S. Lamb's body washed ashore at Castricum much more to the North.
3. Lancaster II DS774
1. All but one of this crew where RCAF
2. 3 crewmembers washed ashore in a dinghy at Rockanje close to Nieuw-Helvoet 8 days after the crash at november 12th 1943
3. All other crewmembers are MIA
However
1. It is very unlikely that a body (totally or partially submerged) would follow the same cours as a Dinghy with 3 persons on board.
2. Exact crash location is not known and is expected to be several KM´s out of the coast. If the crash took place closer to shore the 3 crewmembers in their dinghy would have been spotted and found earlier.
3. As mentioned above no other casualties have been washed ashore at Nieuw-Helvoet that had been lost at sea. Not before, during or after the war while in Rockanje several Km´s to the west at least 15 casualties washed ashore during the war. This indicates that sea current in front of the coast just ´scratches´the coastline allowing bodies to be washed ashore only on the actual coast line and not more land inwards. This makes it very unlikely that casualties lost over the Nothsea would wash ahore at Nieuw-Helvoet.
4. B. Emmerson
1. Emmerson is member of RCAF and until today MIA.
However
1. Crash location is not exactly known but at least 15 km from the coast. Could be anywhere along the Dutch coast. The only P51/Mustang claim by the Germans is much more south west from Lille. The assumed crash location is more to the south.
2. As mentioned above no other casualties have been washed ashore at Nieuw-Helvoet that had been lost at sea. Not before, during or after the war while in Rockanje several Km´s to the west at least 15 casualties washed ashore during the war. This indicates that sea current in front of the coast just ´scratches´the coastline allowing bodies to be washed ashore only on the actual coast line and not more land inwards. This makes it very unlikely that casualties lost over the Nothsea would wash ahore at Nieuw-Helvoet.
5. Unknown crewmemeber
1. A crewmember of an unknown plane could have baled out over the Harngvliet while the plane may have crashed somewhere else.
However
1. No such crewmemeber is known to have jumped close or above the Haringvliet in the months prior to the recovery of the body at Nieuw-Helvoet.
6. Unknown Canadian airman brought ashore by the Kriegsmarine.
1. A crewmember of an unknown plane could have been recovered at see by the kriegsmarine.
However
1. No record is known of such an event at the end of 1943 or in the months prior to the burial of the body at Nieuw-Helvoet.
Sources:
Combats & Casualties, RAF & US Fighter Commands, 1943, with Annotated Text, ISSUE I, Tony Wood (Allied)
O.K.L. Fighter Claims, Chef für Ausz. und Dizsiplin Luftwaffen-Personalamt L.P. [A] V Films,& Supplementary Claims from Lists Reich & Western Front 1943 (German)
“Verliesregister 1939 – 1945”, part 1943, SGLO, NIMH (Dutch)
THE R.C.A.F. OVERSEAS, THE FIRST FOUR YEARS, TORONTO, OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS, 1 9 4 4 (Canadian)
THE R.C.A.F. OVERSEAS, THE FIFTH YEAR, TORONTO, OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS, 1 9 4 5 (Canadian)
Websites:
(KTB = KriegsTageBuch [war diary])
The vessel that was attacked seem to have been HA 7. Until now it was not possible to identify the vessel any further. We also know the attack resulted in 1 death and 2 wounded. It remains unclear what vessel shot down the Mustang but accoording to this note it must have belonged to the Maasflottile that indeed used the harbor of Hellevoetsluis at that time.
Appendix I
The unmarked grave on the Cemetery of Nieuw-Helvoet, Zuid Holland, The Netherlands
On the cemetery of Nieuw-Helvoet, Zuid Holland, The Netherlands a lonely grave of an Canadian Airman can be found. This grave is the only grave of an Allied soldier on this cemetery.
From research it is shown that only few Canadian airman were missing in the region surrounding Nieuw-Helvoet *including the nothsea along the coastline of the Netherlands southern Islands in the months before the recovery of the body at Nieuw-Helvoet. Hence it should be possible to identify the missing person whose body was buried at Nieuw-Helvoet.
The gravestone lists:
Name: <no name>
date: 30 th. December 1943
Details: “An airman of the 1939 – 1945 war, Royal Canadian air force”.
At this moment no additional information is known about this grave or the recovery of the body. What we can conclude is the following:
The body must have been recovered soon before 30-12-1943 or on that day. Germans usually buried allied casualties quickly. Sometime the same day they had been found. It is therefore likely the body was found only 1-2 days before December 30th. 1943.
At the recovery of the body it could not be identified but must have been identified as Candian as stated on the thomestone. Mostely this was done by identifcation of the uniform.
Unconfirmed statements mention the body washed ashore at the beach of Nieuw-Helvoet. Nieuw-Helvoet did not really have a beach but probably reference is made to the shores of the Haringvliet just right of the harbor entrance of Hellevoetsluis. No records have been found yet regarding this find or regarding the burial of the body. The body could have been brought ashore by the kriegsmarine after being recovered somewhere else. Again no records have been found of such an event.
Period investigated
We have investigated crashes up to July 1st. 1943. We have limited our search as we have not found any cases where bodies washed ashore and were recovered after 5-6 months after the crash date. It is of course possible that the body was lost earlier and only recovered in Dec. 1943. Until we get more details about the recovery of the body and its state when found we cannot draw final conclusions.
Records
The records of the period 1939-1945 have not always been maintained very well and some have been lost at the end of the war. Also the information contained in such reports is not as trustworthy as we would like, much is contributed to eye witness statements and assumed or guessed positions.
The grave stone lists "Royal Canadian air force" but until we find actual records about the recovery of the body we do not know for sure that the body is indeed that of a Canadian airman. It is possible that this information was not correct and it was assumed that it was a Canadian.
For this investigation we have assumed that the information on the gravestone is correct and concentrated on RCAF casualties although we have also investigated some RAF & USAF crashes during the mentioned period if those crashed in the neighbourhood of Hellevoetsluis.
The basis of this investigation is information taken from the “Verliesregister 1939 – 1945”, part 1943, this register lists all aircraft losses in Dutch airspace during the Second World War. This register is drafted by a special research group of the Dutch Ministry of Defense. I have found some discrepancies between this register and other registers on the Internet. However because of the nature of the research group and the professional scientific level of the investigation I tend to trust the “Verliesregister 1939 – 1945” more then other sources.
Casualties at sea
Casualties lost at sea are unlikely candidates to be linked to the body at Nieuw-Helvoet as we have not found any other records of drownees lost at sea washing ashore at Nieuw-Helvoet. Not before, during or after the war. While only during the war at least 15 bodies washed ashore at Rockanje just a few kilometers to the west of Nieuw-Helvoet. Some of those bodies were of service man killed at Dunkirk indicating that the main current along the coast is from South west to North east parallel to the dutch coast line. This seems to be confirmed by the body of F.S. Lamb from the Halifax V LK926 that crashed at sea on Dec. 20th. 1943. This body was recovered at Castricum. Also more service man killed at Dunkirk washed ashore along the Dutch coast line even as north as the "Waddeneilanden" to the north of The Netherlands. None such bodies washed ashore at Nieuw-Helvoet.
Having said this it is of course possible that the body at Nieuw-Helvoet is the exception to the rule so we cannot completely rule out these possibilities. Because of this we still consider some RCAF members MIA over the sea.
I have not investigated crashes wich location only marked as ´Noordzee´ as this could be anywhere on the Northsea and a detailed crash location cannot be established. Unless there was a strong reason to consider the aircraft like with the Lancaster DS774
Following aircraft have been lost in the months prior to December 30th 1943 in the area of Hellevoetsluis or in the whole of the Haringvliet. Information was obtained from the “Verliesregister 1939 – 1945”, part 1943.