Studiegroep Luchtoorlog 1939-1945

						F/Sgt. Harold Calvin Shepherd was the pilot of Halifax LK956. On the return flight from a bombing mission to Leverkusen the aircraft was hit by flak (according to others sources a night fighter). The bomber crashed near Son. Shepherd was the last one of the crew to bail out. While doing this he hit the aircraft. Unconsciousness he reached the ground. About two hours later, around 10 PM, he regained consciousness. He saw the burning wreckage at only half a mile from where he was. This was between Lieshout and Son. While the Germans were searching the area, he hid himself in a nearby barn until dawn. He then approached some people. They fetched a policeman who escorted Shepherd to the mayor of Son en Breugel, Robert Schoepp. From here probably Jan Fransen from Son brought Shepherd to the farm of Hans Corsten also in Mariahout (Johannes Corsten at B 19 in Lieshout). Here he also met Sgt. Norman Huntley Michie (E0196), his mid upper gunner, again. Shepherd and Michie remained on this address for ten days on the hayloft. In this period the Family Jack and Jo Staadegaard of the farm “Woodsplace” in Mariahout assisted by providing food and clothes.

On 1 December 1943 Shepherd and Michie left to a butchery at Grubbenvorst. The day after they moved on to Neeritter. From here they were escorted to Ell. They remained in this village for a few days before, on 12 December, they arrived in Weert. Probably they moved on the same day because the two hid on the farm of Family Willem J. and Anna  Bardoel in nearby Sterksel from 12 to 17 December. They arrived here on the same day as an American airman, LCol. Thomas H. Hubbard (E0194). On 17 December, Hubbard, Shepherd and Michie cycled to Maarheeze escorted by five policemen from Weert. In Maarheeze, the airmen hid in the cellar of a place called 'De Rode Kar' (the Red Wagon), a railway wagon converted into a two-room dwelling, owned by Harrie and Trien Semler. In Maarheeze they joined S/Sgt. Francis McDermott (E0220) and an unnamed Russian escapee. Before these men crossed the border into Belgium, they had to give their name, rank and service number and fill in a short questionnaire. This information was transmitted to London via Belgium for verification. In return the resistance group was informed that Hubbard had to be sent on alone, due to his rank and the military information he knew. Hubbard left at the end of December.

Shepherd and Michie had to wait longer. Because the Germans patrolled intensely in the border area during these weeks, it took until the beginning of January before the two could cross the border. They first went to the house of Frans Wijnen. After one night here the moved on to Overpelt the next day. In the house of shoemaker Bert Spooren they stayed for two days. On 7 January 1944, Charel Willekens escorted Michie and Shepherd first to Antwerp and then on to Brussels by tram. Here both airmen each went their own way. Shepherd found the next day - 8 January - a hiding place in the house of Charles Bertrand and his fiancée Elza Debru at 19 Rue Boduognat. He is also helped by Henry Malfait who lived at Tilmontstraat 9 in Jette. After the arrest of Malfait, Sheperd moved a couple of days to an empty house. On 26 January he returned to Bertand and Debru. In the morning of 28 January, the Gestapo raided the house and arrested all three. They were first taken to Gestapo Headquarters and then to St. Gillis prison. Charles Bertrand would not survive the war. He was fusilladed on 6 September 1944 in Kamp Beverlo. Shepherd transferred on 22 March to Dulag Luft and from there to Stalag Luft VI near Heydekrug. At the end of the war the camp were ‘evacuated’ to the west. First it went to Thorn in Poland. In August 1944 he arrived in Stalag 357 at Fallingbostel. He spent some time in camp hospital here due to sciatica at his back caused by an injury at his back from the parachute jump. On 16 April 1945 Shepherd was liberated by military from the 7th Armored Division. A week later he flew back to England. On 28 May he was back in his homeland Canada.