Peter Hlynsky

This memorial page is dedicated to Peter Hlynsky, one of more than 725 war victims connected to the municipality of Deurne documented by Stichting Oorlogsslachtoffers. The municipality of Deurne and the surrounding villages of Liessel, Vlierden, Helenaveen, Neerkant and Zeilberg were liberated in the autumn of 1944 during heavy fighting. Victims fell on all sides: Allied soldiers from countries such as the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada and New Zealand, and German soldiers.

But the archive covers more than just the combat victims on Deurne soil. Residents of Deurne who lost their lives elsewhere are also commemorated: civilians who were murdered in concentration camps, forced labourers who died in Germany, people who were executed or succumbed to the effects of persecution and oppression. In addition, residents of Deurne who entered German military service and were killed elsewhere are also included.

Stichting Oorlogsslachtoffers has been documenting the story of all these people since 1995, without distinction of nationality, side or background. The goal is to give every person a name and a face, and to keep their memory alive.

Additional information

Grave location:

Awarded the Purple Heart.

On the afternoon of Sunday 30 January 1944, a Boeing B-17 F bomber, nicknamed ‘Martha the II’ and bearing the serial number 42-29761 (VP-W), was forced to make an emergency landing in ‘de Rakt’ near Deurne. During a mission to Braunschweig (Germany), this bomber was shot down by several German Focke-Wulf 190 fighter aircraft before it reached its target. Peter Hlynsky, Wilbert Everett Eason, Harold Arthur Holtz and Harry Fong Lee lost their lives in the incident. Wilbert Everett Eason managed to jump out of the aircraft in time, but his parachute failed to open. Peter Hlynsky had also jumped from the aircraft but broke his neck during the jump; he asked some civilians who had rushed to the scene for a priest, and before he died from his injuries, he was administered the last rites.

Peter Hlynsky tried once more to leave the aircraft with his parachute but, probably due to the aircraft’s low altitude, this attempt went wrong and he broke his neck on landing.

Staff Sergeant Perry E. Beach survived the emergency landing but was quickly taken prisoner by the Germans whilst on the run. 1st Lieutenant Henri D. Steele, 2nd Lieutenant James R. Settle, 2nd Lieutenant Robert F. Anderson, 2nd Lieutenant Leopold L. Flores and Sergeant Paul Oakley Welch also survived this emergency landing but, after spending some time in hiding, were likewise taken prisoner by the Germans in Brussels on 19 and 20 March.

Eyewitness account by Petrus Sanders, a road worker (roadmender) who lived on the Rakt: “It was a lovely summer’s day, a Sunday afternoon around two o’clock. We were at home and one of my sisters was looking out of the window. We lived very close to where the aeroplane crashed. From there, you could see an aeroplane approaching in the distance, on fire, heading straight for us. We saw someone jump out of it, presumably above Bakel. It’s difficult to estimate at that distance. The aeroplane was roughly over the Buntven. It was already burning very fiercely by then. We heard later that a machine-gunner had also fallen out at that altitude. It came hurtling towards us at breakneck speed. It appeared to be nothing but fire. And it was making a lot of noise and spinning round and round. It had become uncontrollable. Just behind our house, it roared past and crashed at the aforementioned spot, nose-first into the ground. Just before it crashed, they managed to bail out; one of them ended up in the barrel, head down. He was up to his waist in the ground at the bottom of the barrel. They managed to pull him out of there using his parachute. A few others who had jumped out were lying in the field, about 15 centimetres into the ground on their backs, lying in a pool of blood. Then the Germans arrived at breakneck speed, making a hell of a racket, rifles at the ready. That was apparently their way of doing things; they couldn’t do it quietly. The bodies were collected and taken away to another location. Immediately, the area around that pile of wreckage was cordoned off. It was a four-engined bomber. The Germans clearly didn’t trust the situation and carried out a house-to-house search for any possible survivors. Apparently, they were missing a few members of the aircraft’s crew. During that search, the aforementioned family member from Vlierden was present with the Germans. The Germans went about those house-to-house searches like madmen. No crew members from the aeroplane were found. It was an American aeroplane.”

On the day of the emergency landing, the innocent Cornelis Nicolaas Schrama was shot in an ambush. The Germans most likely mistook him for a crew member.

A detailed file concerning “Martha the II” may be available for inspection from the author.

For photographs of the actual aircraft, see also its nickname “Martha the II” and the tail number 229761.

Sergeant Paul Oakly Welch *3 September 1922 †27 February 2007, who survived the crash.

Jan van de Westerlo wearing Paul Oakly Welch’s flight suit, which was saved from the Germans by Peter van de Westerlo (Jan van de Westerlo’s father).

View all persons in the category: Allied soldiers killed in action