Unveiling commemorative pole for the crew of the R1226 from New Zealand and England.

July 2, 2022

We invite you to be present on Saturday 2 July 2022 at the unveiling of a remembrance post in memory of the crew who died on 9 May 1941 in the bulb fields of Breezand. The pole will be unveiled near the Oud Anna Paulowna museum at Zandvaart 5 in Breezand. It concerned the crew of the Vickers Wellington Mk. Ic R1226 of the 214 “Federated Malay States” Squadron. These men, from England and New Zealand, gave their lives for our freedom. More information about this crash can be found on this page. We would like to reflect on this by unveiling a remembrance post. Unlike other unveilings, this unveiling will take place in the morning. The program can be found here.

On May 21, 2022, we unveiled two remembrance posts for the crew members of these aircraft. Both remembrance posts have been placed and unveiled on Schelpenbolweg. Invited guests and other interested parties gathered at De Cultuurschuur in Wieringerwerf where the welcome speech was spoken by Fred de Vries of the Wieringermeer Historical Society. Fred showed a photo with explanatory text about the crashed Fokker on the back. More than eighty years later, new information is still emerging.

Mark Hakvoort, our chairman, welcomed all visitors and in particular Flying Officer Brad Duesbury of the English Embassy in The Hague, Mayor Rian van Dam, Dirk and Jetty Bak, Edith van de Bovenkamp of Freedom Flame and Veterans Schagen - Hollands Kroon. The Dutch Defense was represented by LTZ1 Richard van Hooff and SAOO Roelof van Beenen, both from De Kooy military airfield in Den Helder.

From De Cultuurschuur the guests left after the Schelpenbolweg for the first unveiling. Original American army trucks from the Medemblik War Museum were available for transport and they were gratefully used.

At the remembrance post for the Mosquito DZ316, attention was paid to Peter Frank Hall and William Charles Woodruff, who survived the crash because they used their parachutes in time. Mayor of Hollands Kroon, Rian van Dam, was also present at the unveiling of this remembrance post and briefly told what happened on 9 May 1943. Here you can read the whole story. Flying Officer Brad Duesbury said in his speech that he was honored to be present at this ceremony. Dirk Bak blew the English national anthem and wreaths and flowers were laid on behalf of the Municipality of Hollands Kroon, the Historical Society Wieringermeer, Verteranen Schagen and Hollands Kroon, the English Embassy and the Freedom Flame Foundation. The group then left by American army truck to the memorial pole for the Dutch Fokker, further down the Schelpenbolweg. Traffic guidance was again well organized this day by Bertus Juurlink.

The remembrance post for the Fokker C.V-E 645 is the first pole that our foundation has placed and unveiled for the Dutch crew. This Fokker made an emergency landing on 12 May 1940, during which the crew members, Evert Meindert Hoekstra and Roelof van den Heuvel, escaped unscathed. The Fokker aircraft were on a mission that was canceled because the plenty of German Messerschmitt aircraft formed too great a force majeure. LTZ1 Richard van Hooff briefly told in his speech what happened 82 years ago. The remembrance post was then unveiled, also by LTZ1 Richard van Hooff. The Wilhelmus was blown by Dirk Bak and flowers and wreaths were laid on behalf of the Freedom Flame Foundation, the Municipality of Hollands Kroon, the Historisch Genootschap Wieringermeer and Veterans Schagen and Hollands Kroon.

NH Nieuws published an article with video about this day.

Overview crashed planes and unveiling of our remembrance posts