"That one's about to crash,” I predicted, and I was right. Moments later we heard a dull bang.
Although it had sounded very close, it actually landed quite far from our house. In the distance we saw fire. Father and I immediately cycled over to take a closer look.
It was a German fighter plane that had crashed in the heavily populated Bussum-Zuid area, on the gym hall of a local school. The motor had come off on impact and landed against the side of a house on the other side of the schoolyard. Quite a few other houses were damaged too.
Luckily there were no casualties other than the pilot, who was killed on impact. Bystanders told Father that a couple of fingers had been found. The gym hall burned down completely.
Presumably the pilot had tried run into mechanical problems and tried to reach the military airfield in Soesterberg, since he would have been well aware of the danger of an emergency landing in a pitch-dark built-up area. Unfortunately for the pilot, his attempt was unsuccessful.
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| This story is corroborated by the entry on the site Back to Normandy |
More often than not, planes that came down belonged to the Allies. I remember a fleet of high-flying bombers on their way to Germany. It was broad daylight and we were outside at the public swimming pool in Naarden. We clearly saw the planes against the blue sky. Dotted about were small white clouds of exploding anti-aircraft fire. Suddenly we saw two bright flashes, and we knew immediately that the bombers had been hit. I'm sure the crew was killed on impact. Mother had also seen it from our house in Bussum and was still very shaken when I came home.
In order to supplement the food shortage, I started growing vegetables and potatoes in the back garden for our family. I kept this up as long as possible, though it wasn't always possible to get hold of seed or seedlings. As a result, I wasn't able to grow enough cabbage and other winter vegetables in the last year of the war, when the food shortage was at its most desperate.
As there was no gasoline, taxis and buses used wood gas instead. Taxis carried an enormous bag in a metal frame on their roof. This bag could be refilled at the garage:
Buses needed far more fuel and pulled a two-wheeled trailer with a wood gas generator:
At last drivers were real chauffeurs again, because their job involved keeping the fire going underneath the generator. Horse-drawn carts also made a comeback. Oma Zuydweg (my maternal grandmother) once even treated us to a ride in an open carriage to Bikbergen and back.
A large, partially submerged bomb shelter was built on the square in front of the railway station. The shelter was lined with wood, over which zinc corrugated sheets were laid. A metre-thick layer of soil covered the entire structure. Inside, long wooden benches lined the sides.
Unfortunately the shelter was vandalized, so the municipality instituted a citizens' nightwatch. Father was called up too.
Father always tried to get out of it, but somehow he never managed to avoid doing his duty.
One evening, street inspectors noticed a dim light coming from my parents' bedroom. Father was given a fl 50 (guilder) spot fine. This was a considerable amount in those days. He considered his punishment to be very unfair because there was a huge wardrobe in front of the window and not much light could possibly have emanated. Somebody had probably forgotten to close the curtain.
Father always tried to get out of it, but somehow he never managed to avoid doing his duty.
One evening, street inspectors noticed a dim light coming from my parents' bedroom. Father was given a fl 50 (guilder) spot fine. This was a considerable amount in those days. He considered his punishment to be very unfair because there was a huge wardrobe in front of the window and not much light could possibly have emanated. Somebody had probably forgotten to close the curtain.
Against Mother's advice, Father decided to appeal his fine. The judges in those days were all pro-German and did not hesitate to impose heavy penalties where they even suspected the defendant might have been in the wrong.
Father was told he had neglected to set a good example in his professional capacity as bank manager. Accordingly, his fine was increased to fl 70.
Father was told he had neglected to set a good example in his professional capacity as bank manager. Accordingly, his fine was increased to fl 70.
Father was livid!
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Footnote: A real mystery!In the YouTube video below is an interview with a man (a couple of years younger than Carel), who also remembers the plane crash in Bussum. He claims there should have been 4 crew on board.
He collected some pieces of metal from the wreck. There is footage of the townspeople standing around and the firemen putting out the fire (at the 9.06 mark). His account starts 5 minutes into the interview. At 12.01 you can see the buildings today, including the chimney that the plane hit, with clear marks from the accident.
From the YouTube blurb:
"In World War II on 30th December of 1942 a German Dornier 217 crashed in Bussum The Netherlands. Henk van Dijk was a young boy of 8 years old he remembers the enormous bang that sounded all over the village. The pilot was 'H Brockhagen' the other people in it (estimated 4) have never been mentioned, not even by the German war authorities. The plane came closely over the houses and touched a roof and a chimney in de Keizer Otto street. That chimney still shows the marks where the plane hit it.
Then it steeply turned and crashed into the gym of a school.
Was the plane and its crew/passengers trying to escape to England? Until today it remains a mystery."
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