02 – Frans Stoovelaar age 23 (December 30, 1916 – May 10, 1940)
Lieutenant-flight observer Stoovelaar flew as observer and commander in the Fokker T-V numbered 854 on a mission of 3 T-V’s, escorted by Fokker D-XXI fighters, towards Waalhaven Airport (Rotterdam) which was going to be bombed.
Immediately after dropping their bombs the 3 bombers were attacked by German fighters, and 2 of the 3, the T-V’s 862 and 854, were shot down near Oud-Beijerland (Hoekse Waard).
All the members of the crews of the 2 planes, with the exception of Sgt. Hartog on board the 854, were killed. Lieutenant Stoovelaar was posthumously awarded the Flying Cross (Royal Decree of May 6, 1946).
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This page comes from the magazine FD Personal of Saturday April 27, 2019. In the article ‘Air Heroes of May 1940’, photos of various air heroes were printed in color: ‘by coloring the photos of young soldiers, they are suddenly almost boys of today’ .
Cemetary Amsterdam
