[Jaap Woortman]

See below the story about the transfer of this Ar 234 and it's landing at Eelde airport near Groningen, written by one who was there.

Jaap

Air Enthousiast Vol.4, Nr.2, pg.73 81.
Viewed from the cockpit by Captain Eric Brown,CBE,DSC,AFC,RN.
"Like greased lightning..."
From Sola to Farnborough.
I was able to gain far more of my Blitz flying experience during ferrying than testing, for our troops had come across a whole squadron of Ar 234B 2s on Sola airfield, Stavanger, and I was assigned the task of getting these aircraft back to the UK. For this I used a Siebel Si 204D as a communications hack and mobile workshop and, having loaded it with all metric tools, oils, greasse, spare tyres, etc, likely to be called for during the ferrying operation, set off from Farnborough with a second pilot who was to shuttle the Siebel between Sola and Schleswig while I flew the Arados between the two bases. Once at Sola I decide that the job called for some expert assistance, so I handpicked two German maintenance NCOs and took on strength the Hauptmann who had served as maintenance test pilot on the airfield. They accepted their new role with a certain inevitability tempered with the knowledge that their fate as my helpmates would be a good deal more agreeable than that of their comrades in the POW cage. It had been my original intention to use the Hauptmann purely in an advisory capacity, then the tempting thought struck me that I might use him actually to fly some of the aircraft on the ferry route. Such a course had its risks as neutral Sweden was invitingly close for a dash for freedom, but I weighed the pros and cons and decided to minimize the risk by always flying on his tail; providing him with a course and altitude at which to fly but ensuring that he had no maps and threatening to ram him if he deviated from course. Knowing the Ar 234B as he did he must have regarded my threat to ram him as pretty hollow since I would be highly exposed in that exten sively glazed nose. On second thoughts, he may really heave believed that I had kamikaze tendencies. In the event, it all worked like a charm and the task was soon completed, though the weather sometimes forced us to make an intermediate stop at Grove. Once all the Arados were assembled at Schleswig the next stage was to get them to Farnborough via, if the weather so dictated, Melsbroek, Brussels. On this leg I reckoned to let my Luftwaffe helpmate fly in formation on my wing, although I still had no intention of providing him with maps.
On such a trip on 3 October 1945 we took off from Schleswig at 1715 hours with a forecast of clear weather en route. As it was late afternoon we planned a low level flight to Brussels which, at fast cruise, would take an hour. Our endurance under such conditions was 1hr 20 min. and dusk at Brussels was 1815 hours. Our route took us down the east bank of the Zuider Zee but as we reached the south bank we ran into sea fog. I switched on my wingtip lights and saw that the Hauptmann was still with me, so I began a gentle turn to reverse course as there was no guarantee that the weather would open up again ahead of us. Furthermore, I was not at all sure that my Teutonic companion was in a good night formation flying practice; uncertainty that was to prove more than justified. On breaking clear of the fog the other Arado was no longer with me. Nor was it anywhere to been seen. I circled a couple of times, vainly searching the sky for my wingman, and it suddenly dawned on me that I had another problem, I had not enough fuel to get back to Schleswig. The only alternative was to try to make Nordholz airfield on the North Sea coast near Cuxhaven.
........The story goes on at October 4th with:
I had made anxious enquiries about the fate of the other Arado but learned nothing until late that afternoon a phone call from a British Army unit in Holland informed me that the aircraft had landed at a small airfield called Eelde, and its pilot being held in custody by the Dutch who seemingly had no intention of giving him up. Next morning I set off in an Oxford for Eelde and could scarcely believe my eyes when I saw the Ar 234B on that small grass field which was liberally pitted with bomb craters. It was obvious that the Blitz would never be flown out of there. The Hauptmann told me, after losing me in the turn over the Zuider Zee, he had headed north in the hope of striking the coast and getting his bearings. He had realised, as I had, that darkness was overtaking him rapidly, and when he spotted the pockmarked airfield at Eelde he had decided to take his chance while it was still daylight and put down there, trying to steer the aircraft in a straight line that he could see existing between the craters and using the emergency braking 'chute. He was far more grateful to me for releasing him from Dutch care than for the congratulations on bringing off a remarkable landing.
There was no change no chance of recovering the ar 234B from Eelde the splendid Dutch were delighted to have an intact example of the aeroplane on their sole and I decided to recover the Arado that I had left at Nordholz after ferrying the rest of the aircraft back to the UK.