The Munros of Pinetown

ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 53179
(https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/53179)
Last updated: 29 January 2023 Date: 29-AUG-1941
Time: 03:30 LT
Type: Handley Page Hampden Mk I
Owner/operator: 49 Squadron Royal Air Force (49 Sqn RAF)
Registration: AE126
MSN: EA-N
Fatalities: Fatalities: 4 / Occupants: 4
Aircraft damage: Written off (damaged beyond repair)
Location: Wadden Sea near Ameland island - Netherlands
Phase: Combat
Nature: Military
Departure airport: RAF Scampton, Lincolnshire
Destination airport: RAF Scampton, Lincolnshire

Narrative:
Handley Page Hampden Mk.I AE126 (EA-N) of 49 Sqaudron, RAF. Lost on combat operations on the night of 28-29/8/1941. Mission: Duisburg. Took off from RAF Scampton on the evening of 28/8/1941. Shot down over the Waddenzee, south of Ameland, West Frisian Islands Netherlands (at approximate coordinates 53°26′42″N 5°46′23"E). All four crew were killed. According to a rough translation into English of a Dutch report (see source #2 and the link in source #5 for the original Dutch text)

"On the evening of August 28, 1941, the aircraft rose from the Scampton air base in Great Britain for an attack on Duisburg. The plane was shot down by the German night-fighter Oberleutnant Helmunt Lent of 4./NJG 1. The plane crashed into the Wadden Sea near the village of Nes, near Ameland, Friesland, West Frisian Islands

On September 2, 1941, the body of Pilot Officer Bernard Maurice Fournier was washed up on the beach near post 25. He was only identified after the war. For the time being he was buried nameless on 3 September 1941 at the General Cemetery in Nes.

In the storage of the remains of the aircraft by the Germans, some remains of a human body were found. The remains were initially buried in the grave of Fournier. After the war, the remains were reburied in the free grave in row 13, grave 12. A few days after the crash a message box was found by a resident of the village of Buren. In the box there was a note with information about the crashed plane. The crew could be identified on the basis of these data. The crew is buried at the General Cemetery in Nes in row 14, grave 1 and in row 13, grave 12. The crew of this aircraft consisted of:

Pilot: Pilot Officer Bernard Maurice Fournier RAF (85242, aged 21)
Navigator: Sgt. Duncan Henry Barrett RAF (901205)
Wireless Op/Air Gunner: Flight Sgt. E.R. Palmer RAF (747878)
Wireless Op/Air Gunner: Sgt. D. Watson RAFVR (942231)"

As stated above, all four crew were buried at Ameland (Nes) Cemetery, Freisland, Netherlands, although they were not identified until postwar in some cases. For Oberleutnant Helmunt Lent, Hampden AE126 was his 22nd "kill".

Sources:
1. W.R. Chorley: Royal Air Force Bomber Command Losses of the Second World War 1941 Page 131
2. Foreman, John; Matthews, Johannes; Parry, Simon W. (2004). Luftwaffe Night Fighter Combat Claims, 1939–1945. Walton on Thames: Red Kite. ISBN 978-0-9538061-4-0
3. Hinchliffe, Peter (2003). "The Lent Papers" Helmut Lent. Bristol, UK: Cerberus Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84145-105-3.
4. http://www.nimh.nl/nl/images/1941%20sec_tcm5-7282.pdf - Link no longer functional. Find it in internet archive at https://web.archive.org/web/20081203064556/http://www.nimh.nl/nl/images/1941%20sec_tcm5-7282.pdf  
5. http://www.amelanderhistorie.nl/news/vliegtuigcrashes-op-ameland-tijdens-de-tweede-wereldoorlog-2-/
6. https://studiegroepluchtoorlog.nl/28-29-08-1941-sglo-t1231-handley-page-hampden-mk-i-ae126-ea-n/ - Link not operating use ref 13 which is on same site.  
7. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2649023/fournier,-bernard-maurice/
8. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2649002/barrett,-duncan-henry/
9. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2649036/palmer,-ernest-richard/
10. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2649045/watson,-dennis/
11. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helmut_Lent
12. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nes,_Ameland
13. https://verliesregister.studiegroepluchtoorlog.nl/rs.php?aircraft=&sglo=T1231&date=&location=&pn=&unit=&name=&cemetry=&airforce=&target=&area=&airfield=