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Vlieland, Bomenland. Air Crash

 
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adb41



Joined: 03 Jan 2008
Posts: 178
Location: Stornoway

PostPosted: Sat Feb 20, 2010 7:38 pm    Post subject: Vlieland, Bomenland. Air Crash Reply with quote

When I visited the island of Vlieland off the northern coast of The Netherlands in June 2008, I came across this small plaque in the forest plantation of Bomenland, 4 miles southwest of the village of Oost Vlieland.



On 23 March 1945, a Stirling LK209 MA-T belonging to 161 Squadron Royal Airforce crashed on the dune behind this memorial plaque. The four-engine bomber had been sent on a weapons drop for the Dutch resistance movement.

The crew of the plane consisted of:

Pilot: Flight Lieutenant Alan H. Aitken
Flight mechanic: Flight engineer William Horrocks
Navigator: Ronald A. Caston, aged 23
Wireless Operator / Air gunner: Reginald Swift, aged 22
Air Bomber: William L Shaw, aged 22
Air Gunner: Alexander R. Paton, aged 24
Air Gunner [tail section]: Joseph T White, aged 23, who survived.

CWGC searches reveal that Shaw and Paton were Scottish:

WILLIAM LAWSON SHAW
Rank: Pilot Officer (Air Bomber)
Regiment/Service: Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, 161 Sqdn
Date of Death: 23/03/1945 aged 22
Service No: 196054
Additional information: Son of James and Mary Shaw, of Greenhill, Lanarkshire
Cemetery: VLIELAND GENERAL CEMETERY, grave 74

PATON, ALEXANDER ROBERT
Rank: Flight Sergeant (Air Gnr.)
Regiment/Service: Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, 161 Sqdn
Date of Death: 23/03/1945 aged 24
Service No: 1573936
Additional information: Son of John and Mabel Paton, of Drumoyne, Glasgow.
Cemetery: VLIELAND GENERAL CEMETERY, grave 76
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