Capt. Bert van Sloten overleden
Geplaatst: 20 sep 2005, 21:20
Ik kwam de volgende informatie vandaag tegen op een ander forum (http://www.theaerodrome.com):
Een zeer opmerkelijk verhaal. Kan iemand mij meer informatie geven over deze man?Obituary column in today's Guardian.
Pilot Captain Bert van Sloten who has died aged 105 in the Netherlands was awarded the Iron Cross First Class by Germany's Kaiser Wilhelm for his service in the first world war and the Distinguished Flying Cross by the British in the second world war.......
Born in Holland, the son of a cheese merchant he ran away to Germany at 17 and joined the Imperial German air service, flying on the western front in the closing months of the first world war. He then helped his compatriot Antony Fokker, the famous aircraft designer, to remove some Fokker D-V11 fighters from defeated Germany into neutral Holland........
With the Nazi invasion of Holland in May 1940, van Sloten was drafted into the Royal Dutch air force, and, flying a DC3 Dakota transport, brought a Dornier Do-17 bomber down on a German armoured unit, destroying at least 8 tanks.........
Escaping in a DC-3 to England, van Sloten joined 32 Squadron, flying Hawker Hurricanes in the Battle of Britain.........