Studiegroep Luchtoorlog 1939-1945

Evaders


Evader chart: E0472
SGLO Date crash Aircraft
T3644 29-04-44 B-24 Liberator
MilRank First Name(s) Name
T/Sgt. Robert F. Pipes
Milregnr. Nationality Born
20821082 American
Returned Y/N Evader Fate Date Captured/Liberated Place Captured/Liberated Escape Line
Yes EVD 5 Apr 45 Coevorden Ommen
Evader Story
						T/Sgt. Robert F. Pipes was the engineer of B-24 41-29399 ‘Play Boy’ that crashed near Hellendoorn early in the afternoon of 29 April 1944. After bailing out Pipes landed in a ploughed field north of Den Ham. He was soon approached by a Dutchman who took him to his barn. From here his son took Pipes on the back of his bike to a pine forest and hid him in a old foxhole and covered the airman with leaves. Soon he was accompanied by Staff Sergeant H.F. Heafner (E0471). The Germans searched the forest all afternoon but didn't find the two airmen. After dusk the farmer returned and took both men to his farm and hid them in a tunnel in the haymow. They stayed in there for about two days as the Germans were still searching for them. At last, the farmer came to the mow and the two airmen moved to his house. While they were hiding in the farm, Pipes and Heafner were visited by two men in business suits. They told the airmen that they would organize their return journey to England. One of them was Albert van Lancker, the leader of the RVV in Salland, also known as 'de kolonel'. In the early morning hours they were picked up by the Mercedes Benz of Baron van Pallandt of Ommen. They were driven to his mansion 'Eerde' where they changed into civilian clothes and then left for Almelo. There they hid for two days in a secret compartment in the house of resistance worker Ludwig Horvath on the Parkweg 24.

In Almelo, Pipes and Heafner were given train tickets and escorted to Enschede. They were brought to the house of Rudolf Blokzijl in the Lipperkerkstraat 265 where they hid in a secret compartment. Blokzijl lived there with his wife and six children and ran his shop at this address as well. Both airmen stayed there from about the 3rd of  May until June 10 when they moved to the house of Jan Scholten at the Wierdensestraat 120 in Almelo. Because there was a possibility that the Germans knew about this hiding place, they soon left and taken to a dense pine forest between Beerze and Stegeren. A few days later they were joined by two other American flyers, S/Sgt Martin Cech (E1106) and T/Sgt. Raymond Swick (E0394). There also was a Jewish rabbi and a young Dutchman named Jan. They dubbed their new hiding place Camp Eisenhower. On the 29th of June, a B-17 was shot down over the forest. Two of the gunners, S/Sgt. Harold L. Chapman (E0578) and S/Sgt. Stuart E. Bouley (E0577), landed with their parachutes close by. Chapman and Bouley joined the other evaders but due to the risk for German search parties, they decided to evacuate Camp Eisenhower immediately.

The whole night, the six men followed a railway track and the following morning they arrived at the station of Mariënberg where they met railway worker G. Bannink. Here the group split up. Pipes and Heafner staying with the Bannink Family for the next days. Bouley and Chapman went in hiding with the Smeek Family at the Kloosterdijk. Swick and Cech found a hiding place in the house of Geert Salomons in Bergentheim. The rabbi and Jan made their own way. From July 1st until July 15th, Pipes hid in the house of Greta Smeek in Mariënberg. On 20 July, the six airmen were collected from their different addresses and taken to the 'De Bruinhof' farm of the De Bruin Family at the Steendijk 1 in Beerzerveld. During the day they hid in a secret compartment in a haymow. On the 27th of  February 1945, the farm was raided by 'Landwachters' and in the ensuing firefight and melee the airmen managed to flee unharmed. Pipes returned to the station in Mariënberg where hid with the Bannink Family for a second time. On March 26 he was collected by policeman Jan Kalkman from De Krim who took him took the Coevorden area. Here he was liberated by Canadian troops on April 5th 1945.
						
Source(s)
* Robert F. Pipes, The Playboy Crew 1943-1944. Memoirs of World War II. The men of B-24 Liberator 41-29399 (Denver 2010)
* C.B. Cornelissen, SIPO en SD in Twente 1940-1945 (Meppel 2010), page 233-238
* National Archives, Washington, EE-2938
* H.B. van Helden, De lijst van Haeck. Een overzicht van de hulpverlening aan geallieerde bemanningsleden en ontsnapte krijgsgevangenen tijdens de Tweede Wereldoorlog (Hardenberg 2017), page 174-184
* F.L. Meijer, 'De avonturen van Robert F. Pipes' in: Rondom den Herdenbergh. Tijdschrift van de Historische Vereniging Hardenberg en Omgeving, 1990 7/4, page 775-781