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Author: bosma48
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Classification: queries
Message Board URL:
http://boards.rootsweb.com/localities.northam.usa.states.indiana.counties...
Message Board Post:
My name is René Bosma en I live in the little Dutch town of Oosterwolde.
Since 4 years I have been investigating the Air war over the Northern part of the
Netherlands. It is my main objective to gather as much information as possible
about the aircraft and the airmen which came down over the province of
Friesland during the Second World War. We consider it very important to keep
the memory of the Air war alive, especially the many flyers paid with their lives for our
Freedom.
One of the aircraft I research is a American B-17 heavy Bomber (serial: 42-37739) of 96
Bomb Group. The plane crashed on the 16th of December 1943 near a little town in the
Netherlands called Poppenwier (North site of the Netherlands). The B-17 came back from a
bombing mission on the harbour installations in the German city of Bremen. But when they
flown The North of the Dutch Mainland the group of Bombers where attached by German
Fighter. one of the bombers was hit badly en started to tumble to earth. But because the
bombers flown in a tight formation it collided with another B-17. One of the wings was
ripped of en that B-17 (42-31086) crashed in the same area. It was a big tragedy because
al the 20 airman of the 2 plans lost their. After the crash all the 20 airman where buried
on the little graves site near the old church in the little town. It was in 1945 (after
the liberation of the Netherlands) that the body where reburied at the American War
Cemetery at Margraten, The!
Netherlands. Some of them are still resting here. Others where later reburied in the
U.S.A
The Flight Engineer en Top Turret Gunner of the 42-37739 crew was Technical Sergeant
Robert Edward Smith. He was born on the 22nd of June 1919. His parents where Frederick
Elmer Smith (1896-1969)& Mildred L. Fuller Smith (1899-1979). He has one brothers
Fred. In 1940 the family lived in Lincoln, St. Joseph County, Indiana. In June 1941 Robert
married to Ruth J. Tyra. Together they lived on Rular Route 2 at St. Joseph County,
Indiana.
Robert his body was rehabilitated in 1949 from the American war Cemetery at Margraten, the
Netherlands to Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery, Saint Louis, St. Louis County,
Missouri.
At the moment I research this crash en I was hoping that there are someone who could en
will help me with some additional information about Robert:
. his military career
. his family
. his life before he sight in for service
. his repatriation are available
I also hope that someone knows some ancestors or relatives of Robert en will help me to
get in contact with them.
My goal with the information I try to collect is to make a as precise as possible
reconstruction about the crew en their mission on that day. So the story of the brave man
who gave their live for our freedom never will be forgotten.
Thank you in advance en hope you could en will help me.
Kind regards
René Bosma, Oosterwolde, The Netherlands
My home address: Laak 33, 8431 SC Oosterwolde, The Netherlands
My email address: dikkefodde(a)hotmail.com
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