Today we will leave Hindeloopen. We enjoyed the last 3 days very much. We are now travelling to Drenthe , but first we stop in Donkerbroek where Bart’s dad was born and raised.
On the night of 4–5 May 1943, RAF Lancaster W4888 was shot by a German night fighter over the IJsselmeer while returning from a bombing raid on Dortmund. The burning bomber attempted an emergency landing near the Alde Dyk in the farmland between Hindeloopen and Workum, but crashed into the fields of the Warkumer Nijlân at about 1:40 a.m. Five crew members were killed in the crash, while navigator Ralph Duncan Paterson escaped by parachute and survived the war as a prisoner of war. Today, a memorial plaque beside the quiet countryside road near Workum marks the crash site and remembers the young airmen who died there.
We stopped in Donkerbroek where Bart’s dad grew up. This was the house where Pake was born and raised. It is not too far out of Donkerbroek but it probably would have been a 30 minute walk for him to go to school and church.
The Witte Huis was a restaurant / meeting spot from 1912. Barts family tells us that when the war was over, they partied and danced here in celebration!! I can’t even imagine the feeling they must have felt after living through 5 years of war.
We walked through cemetery. We found Ome Marcus grave site. He was Bart’s dad’s brother.
We got a large house with 6 bedrooms in a very small village – Buinerveen. It had the most lovely yardspace.
We now start our 3 nights in Drenthe. It was very nice that Roanne drove from Assen to see us this first night when we arrived. Too bad I didn’t get a picture. 🙁 not like me. I think I was so excited to see her and spend time chatting, that I forgot about getting a picture. 🙂
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