Memorial

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At about 10 o'clock, when the formation passed over the woods of Zoersel, Belgium, it came under heavy anti-aircraft fire. One airplane was hit and began to lurch from side to side, completely out of control. Belgian boy scouts saw six parachutes leave the plane.

According to one of the boy scouts, the 16 year old Michel Bosman, they ran to the spot where one of the parachutes seemed to land. Suddenly they saw a thin column of smoke rising from between the dry pines. All of a sudden they heard a cry for help and saw, shining in the middle of the smoke and flames, the white silk of a parachute. They found one of the airmen half hanging and suspended by the cords of the parachute. To attract attention he had probably set fire to the woods surrounding him, because he lay in the center of the circle of fire. He was very badly wounded in the stomach and on one of his legs, one of his feet was half crushed. These wounds could not have been caused by branches, and most likely he was wounded in the plane by an exploding projectile and his mates had helped him get out. When they asked his nationality, he replied very clearly "Joe Schreppel, Pittsburg" He asked where he was and when we asked him where the formation had been heading for, he refused to reply. In the meantime, the inhabitant of a neighboring villa and a local policeman had arrived. At Joe's request, the former went to get him some water and let him drink it. Then Joe asked to remove his heavy boots. It was then half past eleven and at Joe's request a local man had been to get a priest who was there by 12 noon. The priest talked with Joe and gave him the last Holy Sacrament. At about half past twelve, Joe passed away, very calmly. A few moments later, the German military police were there and transported his remains to the morgue of Zoersel. On 19 August it was picked up by the Germans and buried at Fort III in Deurne on 20 August 1943 with military honors as "Unbekannt" (Unknown). Why he was not buried under his name remains unknown. Some statements and records also mention his remains were placed in a coffin in which the body of another victim already lay. This other victim was T/Sgt Anthony L. Carlone, who's plane had crashed in Wechelderzande. These records also mention that before the burial, the remains of S/Sgt Schreppel were placed in another coffin and both men were buried side by side.

The morning after his body had been brought to the morgue, there were flowers at the gate (see photo). The number of flowers increased by the hour. A crowd of spectators remained on the square, watching and awaiting the events. During that morning, Miss Daems prayed 5 "Our Fathers" and 5 "Hail Marys" for the repose of the soul of the deceased. Thanks to the initiative of Martha Goossens, a collection was also taken up to have a Holy Mass celebrated, yielding 243 francs. At two o'clock in the afternoon, the deceased was taken away. Mayor De Bouck put up a message in which he urged people to refrain from similar demonstrations because of the dangerous consequences.

Both ladies and a number of other residents of the village were punished by the Germans for their patriotic behavior and spent several months in prison.

In May 1945, several unknown remains were recovered from this cemetery and evacuated to Ardennes Cemetery for identification. One of these remains, marked as X-113, was investigated with the possibility this was S/Sgt Schreppel, but on 8 December 1949 it was decided that there was no convincing evidence to allow an identification. These remains were reburied at Unknown at Ardennes on 6 April 1950.

Three crew members survived and were taken prisoner, one evaded capture, and with the aid of the Belgian resistance returned to England. Six men were killed.

The airplane crashed in Nieuwe Hinkelenpolder, 2 km southwest of Woensdrecht, the Netherlands.