Studiegroep Luchtoorlog 1939-1945

						2/Lt. Robert G. (Bob) Borst, whose parents had emigrated from Amsterdam to the United States in the 1920's, was the bombardier of B-24 Liberator 41-28932 'Ramblin Wreck I'. The bomber was shot down by German fighters on the return flight from a bombing mission to Vechta airfield. It crashed at Gelderingen, west of Steenwijk. Borst managed to bail out and landed near Willemsoord. He was found that afternoon by Klaas Vredeveld, a person in hiding at the farm of Family Seine Pol in Willemsoord, who was working in the fields near the Steenwijk-Ossenzijl Canal when Borst landed nearby. Vredeveld hid the American in a grain sheaf. The next day Borst was picked up by the three members of the resistance and brought him by bicycle to a house where he changed into civilian clothes. In this house he also met the nose gunner, Sgt. William K. Meyer (E0634) and the pilot, 2/Lt. Robert W. Harrington (E0633). The three were almost immideately separated again becuase the resitance thought it was too risky to keep them together. Borst was escorted to the house of the tailor Jan Kiezebrink in the Onnastraat at Steenwijk. After several days hiding here he moved to the house of Family Joh. De Vries at the Eikenlaan in Blesdijke. Here Borst was liberated on 13 April 1945 by Canadian troops. After the war Borst made career with the American Instrument Company. He passed away on 16 Apri 2014 at the age of 91 in Jessup, Maryland.