[John Manrho]

Harrie,

I checked my files and books and I believe the story in this book comes originally from "1945, Drentsche Kroniek van het bevrijdingsjaar" by Mr. G.A.Bontekoe originally published in 1947. It was reprinted later. In there it is stated in Dutch;

"7.4.1945: Op 1 km ten NW van Anloo valt een Duitse piloot dood wegens weigering van zijn parachute. Toestel stort neer in Zuidlaren".

Well, this gives me basically two thoughts;

1) There was heavy fighting going on around that time in that area and parachute might be indicating Fallschirmjäger which were also active as ground forces. So, I think we might have been misled here.

2) However, on the remainder the book is accurate on aircraft losses (date and location), so why would it be different.

The answer is probably in the community files of Zuidlaren. Check the burial records of the germans who were buried there. That might give you a clue.

regards,

John