Memorial

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Sgt Walter M. Sied enlisted at Kalamazoo, Michigan on 22 March 1943.

He attended high school for 3 years and was a plate printer before he enlisted.

Statement from 2nd Lt Ronald D. Spencer:
"At 14:54 I saw a B-24 directly beneath us at approximately 5000 feet. While watching it, six parachutes were seen to open. There could have been more since our aircraft turned at that time and I lost sight of the plane. The chutes opened at regular intervals which would indicate that the bail out was planned. The plane at that time was at least five miles within Holland the coordinates were about 52.53N - 06.52E. The plane was seen to crash by the waist gunner at 14:57."
Statement from crew member S/Sgt Francis W. Connor Jr.:
"Sgt Walter M. Sies was injured in the head by flak. He asked me to jump with him. When we left the ship I saw his chute come out of his pack but didn't see it blossom. I lost sight of him when he passed throught a layer of clouds. The German soldiers who captured us said they had found the body of a flyer."

The crew came down in the vicinity of Roswinkel. The plane itself flew further and crashed between Valthe and Nieuw-Weerdinge.
The parachute of Sgt Sies failed to open. He came down near the Roswinkelstraat on a strech of land. He was killed instantly. His body was taken to the morgue of the cemetery of Roswinkel by Mr. Pagters. The next day, he was buried at the cemetery of Nieuw-Dordrecht.

On 16 February 2015 a monument was revealed by the "Werkgroep Historisch Roswinkel" near the crash site in Roswinkel.