Wim and Peter Rhebergen

[Dunbar]

Does anyone know how I can contact the above? They are dutch historians and I've just discovered that they might possibly have access to film footage of the funeral of my Great Uncle, Sidney Harding, who was (we think) killed in the crash of Hampden AT-122 in January 1942 in Holland. It would be great for the surviving brothers to see the film. Apparently the local Dutch people made quite a show of it and ran the risk of upsetting the Germans to ensure the airmen had a good send off.

Cheers

[sanjaime]

Just seen this very old thread when researching family history and WW2 Bomber Command info..

These two Dutch brothers are from Winterswjk and Aalten, Netherlands towns on the border with Germany. They have researched many WW2 aircraft crashes around their locality and have published at least one book - each chapter dedicated to one aircraft crash site. During their research they contacted many of the surviving crew members to gather additional information. They had contacted my late father who had retired to NZ. He was the rear gunner of a No.15 Sqn. Stirling LS-Z which was shot down in May 1943 with the sad loss of Cliff Bowyer the 21 yr old Irish pilot. We had the pleasure of visiting the Rhebergen family back in 1984 when my father who baled out and taken POW was on a home trip from NZ. I too have lost contact with the brothers, but am now actively searching the internet for them and a copy of their book published in the early '80s.

[Atcham Tower]

Book No 7 on this list shows Vermist Boven de Achterhoek, which translates as Missing over the Achterhoek. This must be the book mentioned by Sanjaime.

rhebergen - AbeBooks (http://www.abebooks.co.uk/servlet/SearchResults?an=rhebergen&bi=0&bx=off&ds=30&recentlyadded=all&sortby=17&sts=t&x=105&y=10)

Posted in the hope that Dunbar looks at the forum occasionally!

[Atcham Tower]

Having just checked his profile, it seems that he does frequently!

[Marmite007]

Hello, I am the daughter of Clifford's sister Daphne, Clifford's memory has always been kept alive in our family, I was fascinated to read his name here and find someone else from his crew.

[Icare9]

Hello and welcome.
Have you seen https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/53003
Took off from RAF Coningsby at 18:00 for Münster. The aircraft was one of four 106 Squadron Hampdens lost on this night. AT122 crashed at 23:35 hours into a isolated wood at Besselinkschans, 1 km south south-west of Lievelde, 10 km North West of Winterswijk, Gelderland, Netherlands. All four crew were killed.

According to one source, it is possible that the crew simply "froze to death" (died of hypothermia) due to the extreme low temperatures - that night temperatures fell to minus 27.4 degrees C.
A local doctor who examined the bodies of the crew reported signs of exposure to extreme low temperatures

Crew:
101559: Pilot Officer Robert Vincent Selfe RAF (pilot, aged 26)
R/56201: Flight Sgt.Joseph Alfred Jacobson RCAF (Observer, aged 24)
955322: Sgt. Duncan Edward Hodgkinson RAF (Wireless Op/Air Gunner. aged 25)
1251250: Sgt. Sidney George Harding RAF (Air Gunner, aged 22)

All four crew were buried at the Lichtenvoorde General Cemetery, Gelderland, Netherlands
Coded ZN@A
and to giv you an idea of how cramped it was https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKFL1KoAfLM

[Marmite007]

Hello I am Daphne Scott-Hayward's daughter, Clifford's sister.

Mummy died in 2017 but had always striven to keep Clifford's memory alive and I feel she did because of my pride, interest and desire to find out any more about him, even though we never met.

Mummy met with Peter and Wim when I was a teenager and we do have a copy of the book which they translated the chapter on Clifford's plane for her. This is a very old thread but just wondered if contact could be made and any more information discovered?

[Self loading bear]

Dear Daphne,

When looking at websites about
war commemorations and local history,
it seems that Peter Rhebergen was alive and active till at least 2018.
Would you like that I try to contact him via one of these website webmasters?
In this thread it several different crashes are handled.
Can you clarify which crash your uncle was involved in?

[Marmite007]

Hello, my name is Selma, Daphne's daughter. The details about Clifford are as follows -

Squadron Leader CLIFFORD CHARLES JOHN BOWYER (Pilot).
Service No: 118812.
13-14 May 1943
15 Squadron.
Stirling III BK704 LS-Z.
Op. Bochum.
Crew.
S/L. C C J. Bowyer +
P/O. D C. Smith. pow.
Sgt. H C. Cooper. pow.
F/O. W G M. Olivier. RCAF. pow.
Sgt. J B. Craggs. pow.
Sgt. T P. Hanrahn. pow.
Sgt. E E. Warner. RCAF. pow.
Sgt. C E. Keik. pow.
Took off 0014 hrs Mildenhall. Coned (caught in serachlights) at 11,000 feet and hit by flak. Exploded and crashed 0130 hrs at Barlo 6 km NNE of Bocholt, where S/L. Bower was buried on 17 May. His grave is now in the Reichwald Forest Cemetery. At 21 he was one of the youngest Squadron Leader pilots killed on bomber operations in 1943.

Here's a bit more. In 2011 there was a thread on another forum (WW2 Talk) regarding airmen from County Wicklow. One of the respondents posted the Chorley info as above and then later on this was posted:
"My father Sgt. Charles Edward Keik was the rear gunner in this Stirling. LS-Z, serial BK704.

He was the last one to get out of the plane - S/L Cliff Bowyer told all the crew to bale out and sadly went down with the plane. All surviving crew members were POW's. My father retired from the RAF in 1973 and retired to New Plymouth, Taranaki, New Zealand.

A Dutch family (Peter & Wim Rhebergen) from towns on the German border (Winterswjk & Aalten) have researched and catalogued information on many WW2 aircraft that came down nearby and published a book with a Chapter covering each incident. The amount of detail in each chapter varies for each crashed aircraft, after contacting as many surviving crew as possible.

They had traced and contacted my father in NZ who gave them some additional details. In May 1984 when he came back to UK on a family visit we visited the Dutch family who took us to the crash site, the farm (1Km away) where my father was captured and the war grave of Cliff Bowyer.

They told me that they had contacted several of the crew and Cliff Bowyer's two sisters in Ireland, during research for their book. I was born in September 1943, 4 months after the plane was shot down. But for the heroism of Cliff Bowyer in staying with the aircraft until all the crew had safely baled out, I may never have known my father ! Peter Keik"

[Marmite007]

Hello

Are you Peter Keik, I'm Selma Scott-Hayward, Daphne Scott-Hayward's daughter, Cliff Bowyer's sister. Mummy died 3 years ago and I have always wanted to find out any information about Clifford and his time in the RAF, I was always interested but somehow her loss and knowing how much it meant to her, has heightened my desire to find out more.

Regards,

Selma