Studiegroep Luchtoorlog 1939-1945

						Sgt. Bertram James P. (Jim) Palmer was the air gunner of Hampden AE123. This aircraft headed home from a bombing mission to Bremen with engine trouble when it was reportedly hit by either Flak or a night fighter near Meppen, before being finished off by a Bf 110. The bomber crashed near Zwolle, killing the pilot, Sgt. A.W. Deere. After bailing out Palmer landed, together with two crewmembers in a field at the Veldweg in Gerner near Dalfsen. Only about 40 meters from him Sgt. Victor Cooper (E1002), the bomb aimer and navigator, made a hard landing in which he hurt his knee. Cooper and Palmer soon made contact. After they had hid their parachutes in a culvert of a ditch they started walking in westerly direction. Due to the heavy snow and the injured knee of Cooper their progress was slow. At dusk they decided to hid in a barn. At the end of the day they proceeded their flee. They arrived at a railway line and decided to follow it for a while. At midnight they arrived at a highway with a sign that told them that they were at seven kilometers from Zwolle. Still walking to the west they suddenly arrived at the frozen Vecht River. The managed to cross it without getting a wet suit. In the morning, at about 5 AM Cooper and Palmer reached the dyke of the Zwarte Water. Here Cooper, whose knee was hurting terribly, hid himself in a haystack. He was arrested soon after. Palmer, meanwhile, had proceeded on his own. But he was very tired as well. After only half an hour walking he hid himself in the farm of family Reuvekamp at the Oude Wetering in the polder meadows of Mastenbroek. As the family didn’t know what to do, they decided - together with Palmer - to give him in. At approximately 10.30 AM they called the mayor. Soon after he was arrested by the Germans.