CECIL KENNETH BELTON E&E REPORT.
SECRET
EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS
UNITED STATES ARMY
Military Intelligence Service
E & E Report SECRET
No. 2847 Auth: AC of S, G-2
Date: 9 March 1945 Init: W A H
Date: 9 Mar 1945
Prepared by
PW & X DET
Evader CECIL K. BELTON 2nd Lt. 0-778379
Unit: 728th Bomb Sq, 452nd Bomb Group
Missing in Action: 20 January 1945.
Rejoined Allied Forces: 6 March 1945.
At: TILBURG, HOLLAND.
INTEROGATOR
R.H.D
SECRET
E&E Report No. 2847 Prepared by PW & X, MIS
EVASION IN HOLLAND
MAPS USED:
GSGS 4042
Sheets 2A-3A, 3B
CECIL K. BELTON, 2nd Lt, 0-778379
PILOT
List of Crew Members
PILOT BELTON, Cecil K. 2nd Lt.
CO-PILOT SHANKS, Andrew B. 2nd Lt.
NAVIGATOR CHILLBERG, Carl E. 2nd Lt.
BOMBARDIER BOGERT, Claude H. F.O.
RADIO OPERATOR ROGAN, Thomas A. Sgt.
TOP TURRET GUNNER SALAMONE, Sylvester Sgt.
BALL TURRET GUMMER NEILSEN, Warren P. Sgt.
WAIST GUNNER MONROE, William L. Sgt.
TAIL GUNNER WILLIAMS, Melvin D. Sgt.
BALES OUT OVER HOLLAND.
Returning from a mission over the RUHR on 20 January 1945, the B-17 piloted by LT. BELTON developed engine trouble . First No. 3 engine went out, then No.2 started smoking, forcing the plane down into the clouds at 20.000 feet. There was an explosion and the order to bail out followed. Just as a second and bigger explosion tore the plane apart, BELTON bailed out.
IMMEDIATE HELP FROM DUTCH.
Considerably shaken after jumping with only one shute strap fastened, BELTON hit the ground about noon near MIDOUD, HOLLAND (Sheet 3A, Q-1259) . The Dutch came up to him as he lay in the snow and helped him to the nearest house. There they took his chute, harness and Maewest, gave him a bicycle and sent him off to a barn 2 miles away, with a guide pedalling on either side. In the barn BELTON changed into civilian clothes. Hearing that the Germans were only a few minutes behind in their pursuit, he bicycled on in two more stages of 5 and 7 miles. Evenually he reached a chicken house were the Dutch underground kept him for eight days. About 1 February BELTON moved to a nearby town where he met Sgt. HENRY K. RADCLIFFE, navigator of a British Beaufigter shot down 17 January 1945, with whom he eventually evaded to Allied lines. Together they moved on for three more days to a village further south.
NARROW ESCAPE.
It was very cold, with more than a foot of snow. Both flyers had frequent falls from their bicycles. They had to stop to rest often, although their helpers seemed tireless. Once they met fifty German soldiers on a bridge, but passed them without incident. Twice BELTON barely avoided capture. Once he knocked down a German with his bicyclebut got away by pretending to be deaf and dumb. A second time when he was being regarded suspiciously by the police, he averted suspicion by playing with a small dog. Although the Dutch themselves had very little food, and were eating cats and even tulip bulbs, the fyers received the best that could be procured from the Black Market.
UNDERGROUND ACTIVITIES.
The Dutch underground in North Holland was still active in late January. They were receiving food, arms and equipment dropped by Allied planes. They also raided the houses of the Black Market dealers for food to distribute among the needy. Often helpers, disguised themselves in German or police uniforms. Some posed as doctors, since no other civilians in North Holland were allowed to ride bicycles in daytime. Germans in this area were very easily bluffed by these ruses. BELTON himself once wore a German uniform. The underground also had plenty of arms. They issued BELTON a Colt.45, a Smith & Wesson, a Winchester rifle and a small British MG to use when on guard.
ESCAPE BY BOAT ACROSS THE MAAS.
Moving south again, BELTON and RADCLIFFE spent two weeks in another underground center, and were finally taken to the north bank of the RIVER MAAS. On 19 February they attempted a crossing bu boat, with four British paratroopers and five helpers, but failed becauseof the fog. After being moved several times, the same six evaders left again at 20.00 hrs 6 March by rowboat with two guides. During a dark and rainy night they managed to pass the German sentries and watch towers, travelling a circuitous course and finally arriving safely eight hours later South of the MAAS. Here they were met by some French Canadians and escorted to TILBURG (Sheet 2A, 3A, E-1632). From there they continued on to BRUSSELS and PARIS.
DISTRIBUTION:
G-2, Com Z
I.S. 9 AB (British)
M.I. 9
PW & X
File
SECRET
APPENDIX "C"
HELPERS
LT. BELTON was shot down about noon 20 January 1945 at MIDWOUD, HOLLAND (Sheet 3A, Q-1259). He was at once given help by the Dutch and moved off by bicycle to a chicken house within 10-15 miles of MIDWOUD. here he was given food, civilian clothes and kept hidden until 28 January.
At this chicken house sixteen members of the underground were hiding. They worked at picking up supplies dropped by Allied planes, sabotage and raids for food on Black Market dealers. Their leader was BILLY (45), blond, baldish, stocky, 5' 10", arecent bullet woundin his right calf. Under him BELTON recalls (spelling phonetic):
GLASS (CHARLES) - 40, dark short, heavy.
SCHOCK (JACK) - 20-25, dark, 6' 3".
DICK - 21, dark, medium build, parents in Sumatra.
FLIP - 27, blond, 6 Ft. schoolteacher.
YOOPE (JOEP) - 19, dark, 5' 8".
STEPHEN - 25, blond, 6Ft, thin.
BOP and TED - 25, brown hair, medium build (description uncertain).
About 28 February, TED and BOP took BELTON to MIDWOUD, and the next day JACK and FLIP took him to SPANBROEK (Sheet 3B, Q-1259), where he met Sgt. HENRY RADCLIFFE, British airman. The next day the two flyerswere taken to ZAANDAM (Sheet 2A-3A, Z-0232) by two guides JANISH (25, short, blond, some upper teeth missing) and another guide (22, 5' 8", dark). Here they stayed three days with a woman, name unknown (30, brownhair, 5' 4", husband in Germany, 2 small children) who was also hiding a doctor who had aided a wounded helper, (40, dark, baldish, thin).
Both flyers were taken to AMSTERDAM by JANISH and another guide, and here they stayed from 2-14 February. They stayed at an underground HQ where there was a small switchboard to which information was relayed and then passed on to a radio transmitter elsewhere. This HQ was run by HANS (25, dark, 6ft, slim, dressed often as doctor with black hat, RAF black boots, dark suit and stethoscope, spoke English and had been trained in England). Four girls worked here at decoding and transmitting messages.
They were:
LOLI - 21 dark, heavy, Russian (Louise de Vries).
GERALDO - 21, brown hair, short, glasses (Gerda Meijer).
JOSEPHINE - 26, brown hair, 5' 7", dropped by plane with 5 other girls, resulting broken leg still in cast (Frankie Hamilton).
American girl - 21 dark, 5' 6" heavy (Madeline van Geuns).
BELTON also recalls here:
YAT - 24 blond, 5' 10" medium build (Gerard du Celliee-Muller).
CARL - 28, blond high foreehead, sabotage chief. (Jaap Carels).
From AMSTERDAM, BELTON and RADCLIFFE were moved to ALPHEN (Sheet 2A-3A, D-9096) for one night and on to ROTTERDAM the next day (approx. 15 February) by two guides BLACK BILL (26, black hair 5' 8") and WHITE BILL (26, light hair, bald 5' 8").
From ROTTERDAM the two flyers left in three hours for ZWIJNDRECHT (Sheet 2A-3A, D-8663) guided by PIERRE (25, dark, 5' 6") and there stayed until 19 February with a policeman called FRINK (40, brown hair, 5' 8", wife very large, 300 lbs, mother-in-law and boys 12 and 14 in house).
On 19 February, FRINK and PIERRE movedthe two flyers to SLIEDRECHT (Sheet 2A-3A, D-9763), where an attempt was made that night to cross the MAAS by boat. BELTON and RADCLIFFE, four British paratroopers, PIERRE, two other helpers and two guidesmade the trip, but they were forced back by fog.
The guides were:
LOFTY - 22, blond, verytall, 6' 4" or 5".
PETE - 24, dark, baldish, small.
They had hoped to meet a CAPT HEEPS who ran a Canadian patrol boat up the river, but he was not there.
For the next few days BELTON was frequently moved from house to house in SLIEDRECHT, but can only recall one place where he spent three days with a couple and six girls, ages 8 to 20.
On 6 March the flyers went to a house next to the river, the regular starting place for boating operations. It was owned by HANS (a girl, 26, dark 5' 5"). At 20.00 hrs the two flyers , four paratroopers, LOFTY and another guide (30, dark 6' 2", small moustache), left in a rowboat and made their way through the German sentries by a very circuitous route on a dark and rainy night to a point South of the MAAS (Sheet 2A-3A, approx B-1632). There they were met by French Canadians and taken to TILBURG (Sheet 2A-3A, B-1632).
DISTRIBUTION.
I.S.9, AB (British) 1.
M.I.9 1.
File (4 to PW & X) 1.
Van de historische vereniging van Enkhuizen kreeg ik dit verhaal geschreven door Berend van der Veer: Van een schietpartij bij het ziekenhuis heb ik nog nooit gehoord. Het lijkt mij ook dat dit niet kan hebben plaatsgevonden zonder dat er represailles zouden hebben plaatsgevonden in Enkhuizen en ook daarvan is mij niets bekend.
Op 20 januari 1945 stortte door motorpech bij Midwoud een B17 neer. Slechts één van de negen bemanningsleden, Cecil (Bill) Benton, wist zich te redden. Al gauw werd hij ondergebracht bij de knokploeg in de Eendenkooi.
De bedoeling was dat hij ‘gecrost’.zou worden naar bevrijd gebied maar daarvoor moest hij eerst op de fiets naar Mandrill aan de Zomerdijk. Belton had echter nog nooit op een fiets gezeten. Het pad bij de kooi werd zijn oefenterrein. Toen hij min of meer was geslaagd ging hij tussen Flip en Trenk Koter op weg. Het moet een komisch gezicht zijn geweest. Uiteindelijk, na een verblijf bij het droppingsgebied op de boerderij van Schipper, heeft hij via Amsterdam zijn doel bereikt.
De houthakkers.
De koude winter en de staking van de spoorwegmannen waren niet alleen verantwoordelijk voor een tekort aan voedsel. Ook het gebrek aan brandstof werd nijpend. Zelfs bij vitale voorzieningen als de gaarkeukens en de heel belangrijke stoomgemalen dreigde het werk te stoppen. Het gezag had zich dan ook genoopt gezien bomen te reserveren voor het instandhouden van deze publieke taken. Niet iedereen wist dat en alle burgers hadden het koud.
Op 22 januari waren in het besneeuwde landschap ongeveer dertig zagende en hakkende mannen bezig met het omhalen van de bomen langs de Houterweg te Hoogkarspel. Hun pech was dat ze werden opgemerkt door enige landwachters. Deze voor politietaken opgeleide NSB-ers hadden zich ontwikkeld tot fanatieke mensenjagers. Illusies over hun toekomst hoefden ze zich niet te maken, daarvoor werden ze te veel gehaat.
Voor de vijf landwachters was het eenvoudig om de houthakkers te arresteren. Een probleem was het transport naar Hoorn. Voorlopig moest het gemeentehuis van Hoogkarspel als gevangenis dienst doen. Twee van de NSB-ers zouden achterblijven om de groep te bewaken; de rest ging op de fiets naar Hoorn met enige gevangenen die een eigen rijwiel bezaten.
Al gauw bereikte de knokploeg in de Eendenkooi het bericht van het drama. Daar waren meestal enige mannen stand-by. In de wetenschap dat het voor eventuele onderduikers levensgevaarlijk was om te worden opgepakt, ontstond het idee van een bevrijdingsactie. Flip en Ted waren afwezig en met de vijf aanwezigen zou de operatie uitgevoerd moeten worden. De ploeg bestond uit Kick Böhler, Steef Meyer, Joep Rieter, Ko Singer en Sjaak Stroet.
Met stenguns in de fietstassen ging men op weg naar de uitvalsbasis: café Bantam. De naast het gemeentehuis wonende politieman Stein kreeg nog het advies om zich 's avonds ziek te houden; daarna begon het wachten. Het verhaal wil dat de tijd verder werd zoekgebracht met het spelen van boogie-woogie op de cafépiano.
Het plan was dat twee man aan de voorkant zouden staan, een man aan de achterkant en dat de overige twee luid en duidelijk zouden aangeven dat de operatie was begonnen. En zo geschiedde.
Plotseling klonken er salvo's, ruiten braken en de stukken kalk spatten binnen uit de muren. De beide landwachters raakten in paniek. Een liep met zijn geweer de voordeur uit en werd onmiddellijk neergeschoten. De andere kwam door de achterdeur naar buiten. Daar stond Steef. Omdat hij niet zeker was - een van de eigen mannen droeg ook een uniform - vroeg hij naar het wachtwoord. Er kwam geen antwoord en dus haalde hij de trekker van zijn wapen over ... en dat blokkeerde. De tegenstander had de gelegenheid om te schieten en het was twee keer raak. Een schot door een bovenarm en een schot dwars door een long. Steef viel terug achter een schutting. Daardoor had hij de gelegenheid om zijn pistool te pakken en toen er, tegen de maanverlichte hemel, een arm met een geweer in beeld kwam, schoot hij. Raak, dwars door de hand.at was voor Steef het moment van de confrontatie met de werkelijkheid. Van de euforie van de onoverwinnelijkheid naar de rand van het bestaan. Kogels deden echt pijn en je kon er aan dood gaan.
Voor de direct betrokkenen liep alles goed af. De houthakkers konden naar huis, de KP kon weer verdwijnen en Steef werd met behulp van burgers naar het ziekenhuis in Enkhuizen gebracht. Na een maand fietste hij weer.
Traumatisch voor Hoogkarspel was de represaille. Op 6 februari stopte in het centrum een overvalwagen met Duitsers en vijf aan elkaar geketende mannen. In een boomgaard werden de gevangenen gefusilleerd. Ze hadden niets met Hoogkarspel te maken. Hun leeftijden waren 45, 27, 24, 24 en 19 jaar.
I received this account from the Historical Society of Enkhuizen, written by Berend van der Veer:
“I have never heard of a shooting at the hospital. It also seems to me that such an incident could not have taken place without reprisals being carried out in Enkhuizen, and I am not aware of any such reprisals either.”
On 20 January 1945, a B-17 crashed near Midwoud due to engine trouble. Only one of the nine crew members, Cecil (Bill) Benton, managed to survive. He was soon taken in by the resistance group at the Eendenkooi.
The plan was to get him “crossed over” into liberated territory, but first he had to cycle to Mandrill on the Zomerdijk. However, Benton had never ridden a bicycle before. The path near the duck decoy became his training ground. Once he had more or less mastered the skill, he set off, riding between Flip and Trenk Koter. It must have been quite a comical sight. Eventually, after staying at the drop zone on Schipper’s farm, he reached his destination via Amsterdam.
The Woodcutters.
The cold winter and the railway workers’ strike were not the only causes of food shortages. Fuel was also becoming desperately scarce. Even essential services, such as communal kitchens and the critically important steam-powered pumping stations, were in danger of having to cease operations. The authorities had therefore been forced to reserve trees for maintaining these public services. Not everyone was aware of this, and all the civilians were cold.
On 22 January, in the snow-covered countryside, about thirty men were sawing and chopping down trees along the Houterweg in Hoogkarspel. Their bad luck was that they were spotted by several members of the Landwacht, the Nazi-controlled auxiliary police. These NSB members, trained for police duties, had developed into fanatical hunters of people. They had little reason to entertain illusions about their future, as they were widely hated.
For the five Landwacht men, arresting the woodcutters was easy. Transporting them to Hoorn, however, posed a problem. For the time being, Hoogkarspel town hall would have to serve as a prison. Two of the NSB men would remain behind to guard the group; the others would cycle to Hoorn with a few of the prisoners who owned bicycles.
News of the drama soon reached the resistance group at the Eendenkooi. There were usually several men on standby there. Knowing that being arrested could be life-threatening for anyone in hiding, they came up with a plan to rescue the prisoners. Flip and Ted were absent, so the operation would have to be carried out by the five men who were present. The team consisted of Kick Böhler, Steef Meyer, Joep Rieter, Ko Singer and Sjaak Stroet.
With Sten guns in their bicycle panniers, they set off for their base of operations: Café Bantam. Stein, the policeman who lived next to the town hall, was advised to make sure he appeared ill that evening. Then the waiting began. According to the story, they passed the time by playing boogie-woogie on the café piano.
The plan was for two men to take up positions at the front, one at the back, and the remaining two to make it abundantly clear that the operation had begun. And so it happened.
Suddenly, bursts of gunfire rang out, windows shattered, and chunks of plaster flew from the walls into the room. Both Landwacht guards panicked. One ran out through the front door with his rifle and was shot dead immediately. The other emerged through the back door, where Steef was waiting.
Steef was uncertain because one of his own men was also wearing a uniform, so he asked for the password. There was no answer, and he therefore pulled the trigger of his weapon ... but it jammed. His opponent seized the opportunity to fire, hitting Steef twice: once in the upper arm and once straight through a lung. Steef fell backwards behind a fence. This gave him a chance to reach for his pistol. When an arm holding a rifle appeared against the moonlit sky, he fired. His shot hit its mark, passing straight through the hand.
For Steef, this was the moment when he came face to face with reality. He went from the euphoria of feeling invincible to the brink of death. Bullets really did hurt, and they could kill you.
For those directly involved, everything ended well. The woodcutters were able to return home, the resistance group could disappear again, and Steef was taken to the hospital in Enkhuizen with the help of local civilians. A month later, he was cycling again.
The reprisals were traumatic for Hoogkarspel. On 6 February, a German troop transport vehicle stopped in the town centre, carrying five men in chains. The prisoners were taken to an orchard and executed by firing squad. They had no connection whatsoever with Hoogkarspel. They were aged 45, 27, 24, 24 and 19.
Translated with Chat GPT.