In memory of Sergeant Walter E. Wince and Freerk Veenstra

Walter Wince

On November 26, 1943, an air battle broke out over the northern Netherlands between the B-24 Liberator bomber “Sack-Time Sally” and three German fighters.

The “Sack-Time Sally” managed to shoot down a German Messerschmitt, but ultimately lost the fight. The American aircraft crashed in Opeinde. Side gunner Sergeant Walter Wince bailed out, but his parachute caught fire and failed to open. He fell into a meadow near the Master Iniaweg.

All this happened around 1:00 p.m. Children were on their way to school. They first saw the air battle, then the young American lying dead in a field. The eyewitnesses never forgot this powerful event — even years later, they could still describe exactly what had happened.

It was Walter Wince’s first flight — and his last.

Freerk Veenstra

On the evening of Sunday, August 20, 1944, 23-year-old Frederik (Freerk) Veenstra was arrested by the occupying forces at his parents’ home in De Tike. Although he had been in hiding elsewhere, he happened to be visiting to celebrate a birthday.

Freerk was transferred to Camp Amersfoort and then, on September 8, deported to Neuengamme concentration camp. On May 3, 1945, Freerk Veenstra died in the Bay of Lübeck, when three German transport ships carrying concentration camp prisoners were bombed by Allied aircraft.

The Cap Arcona, the ship on which Freerk was held, was sunk during the attack. More than 7,000 prisoners lost their lives.